Problems with sexual function and incontinence following robot-assisted and open radical prostatectomy are equally high, according to a study in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston surveyed 685 Medicare patients who underwent open or robotic prostatectomy between August and December 2008. About one-third of the patients reported having issues with incontinence at 14 months post-op. Nearly 90% of the patients said they had issues with sexual performance following surgery.
The study's authors reported no difference in sexual performance and incontinence risks between the 2 approaches, and say patients should not expect fewer adverse effects following robotic prostatectomy.
That conclusion came as no surprise to Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "Unfortunately, robotic prostatectomy - like many things in prostate cancer - has gotten a lot more hype than it should," he told Reuters Health.
Surgical robots are "impressive technology," but should have clear benefits over conventional techniques, including increased effectiveness, less morbidity, more accessibility and decreased cost, say physicians at the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center in an accompanying editorial.
"The increased use of robotic technology may not be primarily driven by such benefits but rather by heavy marketing," say the editorial's authors, "whether by the company that produces the technology, by hospitals that have acquired it or by physicians who promote it to gain market share."
Daniel Cook
