TY  - EJOU
AU  - Manny, Ted B. 
AU  - Gorbachinsky, Ilya 
AU  - Hemal, Ashok K. 

TI  - Lower extremity neuropathy after robot assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and radical cystectomy
T2  - Canadian Journal of Urology

PY  - 2010
VL  - 17
IS  - 5
SN  - 1488-5581

AB  - <b>Introduction:</b> To describe the incidence and outcomes of lower extremity neuropathies in a series of robot assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) and robot assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy (RALRC) patients with 9 months follow up. Additionally, we compare this cohort to other published series of lithotomy based surgery and describe strategies for minimizing risk.<br/>

<b>Materials and methods:</b> We performed a retrospective analysis of 179 consecutive patients who underwent either RALRP or RALRC at a single institution during a 17 month period. We included all patients who experienced bothersome lower extremity pain, weakness, or numbness at any time during their postoperative course. We further defined postoperative neuropathy as de-novo symptoms presenting in the first week postoperatively. Chart review and telephone survey were used to further characterize these patients.<br/>

<b>Results:</b> Six out of 179 patients complained of lower extremity neuropathic symptoms by 9 months of follow up. Probable injuries to the common peroneal, lateral femoral cutaneous, and obturator nerves were found. Three patients met our criteria for postop neuropathy making the incidence 1.68%. All patients remained ambulatory throughout their course. At 9 months follow up, only one patient, a man with metastatic bladder cancer, had activity limiting neuropathic symptoms.<br/>

<b>Conclusions:</b> With routine use of common risk minimizing strategies, RALRP or RALRC may result in lower extremity neuropathy at rates similar to other lithotomy based procedures described in the literature.
KW  - robotics
KW  -  cystectomy
KW  -  prostatectomy
KW  -  neuralgia
KW  -  lower extremity

DO  -