Does prior transurethral resection of prostate affect the functional and oncological outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy? A matched-pair analysis

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is challenging in men with prior history of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Few studies analyze this peculiar group of patients, and hence we sought to investigate the outcome of RARP in post-TURP men. We interrogated our prospectively maintained database containing 643 patients who underwent RARP from January 2012 to December 2020. We matched 36 men with prior history of TURP consecutively to 72 men without prior TURP. The groups were matched for age, body mass index (BMI), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), serum PSA, International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade groups and clinical stage. Men with prior history of stricture surgeries, pelvic radiation, ablative laser procedures, Urolift and Rezum were excluded from the study. Fisher’s Exact test/Chi-square was used for the comparison of categorical variables. Mann–Whitney test (Independent group/Unpaired data) and Wilcoxon sign rank test (for paired data) were employed to analyze continuous variables. The complication rates, median day of drain removal and length of hospital stay were similar between the groups. The TURP group required bladder neck reconstruction twice as often as the non-TURP group (58.3% versus 29.1%, p = 0.0035) and a longer duration of postoperative catheterization (10 versus 8 days, p = 0.0005). The rate of positive surgical margins was higher in the TURP group (30.5% versus 25%, p = 0.5414), albeit statistically insignificant. Biochemical recurrence (BCR) at one year (48.8% versus 60%, p = 0.0644) and zero pad/one safety-pad continence rates at one, three, six and twelve months were also not significantly different (14.3%, 35.4%, 59.2%, 81.6% for non TURP group versus 9.1%, 28.6%, 53.6%, 76.0% for TURP group). On multivariate analysis, prior TURP was not associated with a higher risk of BCR, margin positivity or incontinence. The oncological and functional outcomes of RARP post-TURP are comparable to men without prior TURP.