Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer worldwide. In Denmark, 1600 new cases are diagnosed annually; of these, approx. 20% have muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The standard treatment of non-disseminated muscle-invasive bladder cancer is surgical removal of the bladder (cystectomy) and establishment of a urinary diversion. The surgical procedure can be open, laporascopic or robot-assisted laparoscopic technique. Robot-assisted laparoscopic cystectomy has been beneficial in open cystectomy concerning reduced bleeding and possibly reduced postoperative morbidity. Recently, it has been documented at this department that the same reduction in perioperative morbidity can be achieved by conducting open mini-laparotomy. Whether this change in surgical approach and reduced bleeding in robot-assisted laparoscopic cystectomy with either extracorporeal or intracorporeal diversion is also beneficial in relation to reduced skin incision is unknown.

Contact:

Pernille Skjold Kingo, MD, pernking@rm.dk