Robotic radical prostatectomy (RALP) with pre-existing inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP): technical innovations to...

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) is the gold standard surgical approach for treatment of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is often comorbid with erectile dysfunction (ED), and a small subgroup of men undergoing RALP have an indwelling inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP). In men with IPPs, we perform two techniques at the time of RALP to preserve the pelvic reservoir. In the No Touch Technique, we leave the pseudocapsule of the reservoir intact, electing to dissect the pelvic sidewall and lateral prostatic attachments away from the pseudocapsule. In the Safe Mobilization Technique, we sharply open the pseudocapsule overlying the reservoir and relocate the reservoir out of the pelvis. We retrospectively analyzed 155 cases (Group IPP) from a cohort of 1000 men who underwent RALP. These cases were compared to a randomly selected control group comprising 455 men with PCa who underwent RALP without prior IPP placement (Group NoIPP). We compared perioperative and functional outcomes. The overall incidence of positive surgical margins (PSM) did not significantly differ between the groups (14% in Group IPP and 12% in Group NoIPP, p = 0.4). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of PSM at the bladder neck between Group IPP (5.3%) and Group NoIPP (3.4%), p = 0.1. Binomial logistic regression analysis did not find prior IPP placement to be a significant predictor of continence at 3 and 6 months or for BCR. All patients in Group IPP were able to successfully cycle their devices postoperatively and there were no reported device infections. The No Touch Technique and Safe Mobilization Technique are easy to perform and safe adjunct procedures at the time of RALP in men with pre-existing IPP.