[Laparoscopically-controlled lymphadenectomy in localized cancer of the prostate]

Laparoscopic lymphadenectomy was performed among 15 patients. The average age was 65.5 years. The group was made of 13 T2 and 2 T3. The average time of procedure was 175 min (90 à 240 min). The average number of lymph nodes removed laparoscopically from these patients was 5.3 on the left and 6.4 on the right. Metastatic nodes were found in 5 cases (33%) and among all these 5 patients the PSA level was above 30 and/or the Gleason score > 6. We noticed 3 major complications (2 bowel and 1 vascular injuries). Radical prostatectomy was made in 8 patients and nevertheless this intervention did not become more difficult. As a conclusion, this is a procedure which allows a good node staging but the complication rate is still high and will decrease with experience. The merits of such a method are still to be evaluated in localized prostatic cancer.