1. Introduction
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Radical cystectomy remains the gold standard for muscle invasive bladder cancer and high-risk superficial tumors resistant to intravesical treatment (Dalbagni et al., 2001); moreover, open cystoprostatectomy with urinary diversion remains a major procedure, which may be demanding for patients.
Although cystectomy performed through a laparoscopic approach was firstly described in 1992 (Parra et al.), this indication remained very controversial and was still considered recently as experimental for the treatment of bladder cancer (Breda et al., 2001). During the last decade, the greatest impact of the laparoscopic approach in urology was undoubtedly shown on patients with genitourinary malignancies. When only pelvic lymph node dissection and occasionally nephrectomies were initially considered as oncologically feasible, presently, several other approaches such as laparoscopic adrenalectomy and radical nephrectomy are today considered as standards of care, not only at centers of excellence but even in the general community. Maturing data with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy suggest excellent continence rates and equivalent oncologic results based on pathological surrogates of cure (Guillonneau and Valancien, 2000).
Laparoscopic approach for advanced disease such as cytoreductive nephrectomy has also been found to be feasible for selected patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Other novel therapies, such as laparoscopic radical cystectomy with urinary diversion and laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, hold great promise of benefit for patients with urologic malignancies (Matin, 2003).
Beyond initial reports on feasibility, controversy persisted regarding the risk of cell spillage or port metastases in transitional cell carcinoma; yet the strict observation of oncological safety rules as the respect of closed urinary cavities has increased the acceptance of laparoscopic nephro-ureterectomy (Matin, 2003); hence, radical cystectomy should become increasingly accepted if the same rules are carefully observed (Tsivian and Sidi, 2003). Moreover, animal and clinical experimental work has demonstrated that laparoscopy may be less immunodepressant than its open counterpart (Miyake et al., 2002); this additional theoretical advantage could play a positive role in favor of radical cystectomy performed laparoscopically.
Although laparoscopic cystectomy with different urinary diversions has already been described, it has shown to provide intraoperative and postoperative advantages when compared to open surgery (Paz et al., 2003; Matin and Gill, 2002; Wood, 2002). Nevertheless, the laparoscopic cystoprostatectomy has rarely been well codified and illustrated (Simonato et al., 2003). Having set up an experience in radical prostatectomy since 1999, our groups started to perform laparoscopic radical cystectomy one year later, in spring 2000; from then and until June 2004, 30 patients were operated in Brussels and 8 in Heilbronn.
As elegantly shown in another recent review (Moinzadeh and Gill, 2004), all technical steps of an open surgical radical cystectomy with urinary diversion have been translated into equivalent laparoscopic maneuvers.
The potential advantages of doing the procedure laparoscopically are the smaller incisions, hence decreased pain and quicker recovery time implying shortened hospital stay, decreased blood loss and fluids imbalance compared with the open technique. If transfusion is usual during open surgery, it is uncommon with laparoscopy. A stepwise protocol is actually established, with minor alternative variations between centers (Matin and Gill, 2002; Simonato et al., 2003; Moinzadeh and Gill, 2004; van Velthoven et al., 2003). |