Establishment of a new robotic prostatectomy program at a tertiary Veteran's Affairs medical center

The objective of this study is to report the initial results of a newly established robotic prostatectomy (DVP) program at a Veteran's Affairs (VA) medical center. All patients who underwent a radical prostatectomy during the first 18 months of our robotic surgical program were included in this study. These patients were compared to a control group that included all patients who underwent an open prostatectomy 18 months prior to starting our robotic program. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data was compared between open and robotic prostatectomies. 38 men underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) between September 2007 and February 2009. With the introduction of robotic prostatectomy, the total number of prostatectomies increased by 84 % to 70 (9 RRP, 61 DVP). Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), Gleason score and clinical stage were similar for both groups. Average estimated blood loss (EBL) was 1205 mL for RRP and 126 mL for DVP. Mean operative times in minutes were 259 and 254 for RRP and DVP, respectively. Complications included two rectal perforations, a cerebrovascular accident, one death after RRP and one open conversion for failure to progress. Average length of stay was 5.1 for RRP and 1.8 days for DVP. Total positive margins were 24 % for RRP and 15 % for DVP. For T2-specific disease, 16.7 % had positive margins after RRP compared to 4.3 % after DVP. The establishment of a robotic prostatectomy program at a tertiary VA medical center was achieved in a safe and efficient manner with improvement in EBL and length of stay when compared to our open prostatectomies. Oncologic outcomes were equivalent when compared to other initial DVP programs.