Comparison Of Recurrence Rate Between "EN BLOC" Resection Of Bladder Tumour And Conventional Technique For Non-Muscle...

Conventional transurethral resection of urinary bladder tumour (TURBT) using a wire loop diathermy violates the basic principle of oncological surgery, i.e. dissection through normal tissue. However, in the en bloc technique, the tumour is removed as a single specimen. We compared the quality of specimen and recurrence rate at three months (first check cystoscopy) in both the en bloc and conventional resection techniques.

The subject accrual was done from June 1st, 2017 till June 30th, 2019 at a tertiary care hospital. Patients with newly diagnosed bladder tumour, solitary or multiple ≤3 cm were included in the study. Patients with carcinoma in situ, prior TURBT, or muscle-invasive bladder cancer were excluded. Eighty-two patients were available for final analysis, 41 in each group.

Mean age, gender ratio, tumour features (grade, stage, median number, and size) were comparable in the two groups. Median Operative time [interquartile range- (IQR)] was 30 (25-39.5) minutes in the en bloc group as compared to 45 (33-63.5) minutes in the conventional group (p < 0.001). The detrusor muscle was seen at the base of the primary tumour in all 41 (100%) en bloc cases as compared to 23 (56 %) cases in the conventional group (p<0.001). Overall recurrence at the first surveillance cystoscopy was 17%, with an insignificant difference between the groups. Recurrence at primary site was 19.5% in conventional TURBT compared to en bloc resection (n=1, 2.4%), (p = 0.013).

En bloc resection decreases the recurrence rate at the primary site. En bloc TURBT is a safe technique, providing high-quality specimens for histopathological evaluation and reducing the need for the second TURBT.