Contemporary Outcomes of Open Radical Cystectomy: a 5-Year Experience from a Tertiary Care Center

To evaluate the perioperative outcomes of patients undergoing open radical cystectomy for carcinoma bladder in a tertiary care center. A retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of all patients undergoing open radical cystectomy with a urinary diversion from July 2014 to August 2019 was done. A total of 195 patients were included. A total of 172 patients (88.2%) underwent radical cystectomy with ileal or sigmoid conduit, 6 patients underwent orthotopic neobladder, and 17 patients underwent cutaneous ureterostomy. The mean American Society of Anaesthesiology (ASA) score was 1.4. On preoperative histopathology, 125 patients had the muscle-invasive disease. The mean operative time (± SD) was 303.6 ± 53.4 min and the operative time was significantly longer for neobladder (p = 0.033). The mean blood loss (± SD) was 977.5 ± 346.5 ml. Among the complications, a total of 350 events occurred in 96 patients (49.3%). Thirty-nine patients (20%) suffered grade I complications, 12 patients (6.2%) suffered grade II complications, 26 patients (13.3%) suffered grade III complications, and 9 patients (4.6%) suffered grade IV complications. Grade III, IV, and V complications were considered major complications and 46 patients (23.5%) had major complications. Among the grade III complications, the majority included fascial dehiscence (burst abdomen), i.e., 13.3%, and uretero-ileal leak, i.e., 2.6%. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 5.2% (10/195). On multivariate analysis, the presence of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.047), operative time (p = 0.003), and low preoperative albumin (p = 0.009) were significant predictors for major preoperative complications. Diabetes mellitus, serum albumin, and operative time are significant predictors of postoperative complications. The ASA score, low preoperative hemoglobin, and blood loss are significant predictors of perioperative mortality. Though radical cystectomy has been associated with significant perioperative morbidity and mortality, the advancements in surgical techniques and intensive care tools have led to a significant decrease in morbidity and mortality in the contemporary era.