Study finds no advantages with robot-assisted bladder surgery

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center found no major improvements in outcomes for patients who had robot-assisted bladder surgery over those who had standard open surgery, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

In the trial of 118 patients undergoing bladder removal surgery, a common treatment for advanced bladder cancer, researchers randomly assigned them to either robotic-assisted or traditional open surgery. Researchers then collected patient data regarding the lengths of the patients’ hospital stays and any post-surgery complications.

 

Previous studies indicated that robot-assisted surgeries pose less risk of complications and shorter hospital stays for patients than open surgeries but the findings of this trial found that both were found to be equally safe. There was no significant difference found in the rate of complications and the average length of hospitalization for both types of surgeries was eight days.