title: Performance and functional outcome of endoscopic extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy in relation to obesity: an assessment of 500 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the impact of obesity on the performance and functional outcome of endoscopic extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy (EERPE).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively examined 500 patients treated with EERPE; they were categorized into three groups according to the World Health Organization classification of obesity: normal weight (body mass index, BMI, <25.0 kg/m(2)), overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m(2)) and obese (30.0 kg/m(2)). The database of our institution was reviewed and perioperative data evaluated. The functional data were collected through questionnaires before and after EERPE and analysed statistically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age, prostate size and preoperative PSA level were similar in all three groups. The mean (sd) BMI was 27 (3.3) kg/m(2), with 26.8%, 56.6% and 16.6% of the patients classed as normal, overweight and obese, respectively. A pelvic lymph node dissection and nerve-sparing was done in 218 and 123 patients, respectively. There was no statistically significance difference in the number of patients in each group who had previous procedures. Obese patients had a significantly higher American Society of Anesthesiologists score. The mean operative duration for all patients was 149 min; there was a statistically significant difference in duration among the three groups, with EERPE or nerve-sparing EERPE requiring a mean of 20 min more in obese patients. There was no conversion to open surgery. The estimated mean blood loss was 200 mL; four patients, none of them in the obese group, received a blood transfusion. At 3 months after EERPE there was a trend to worse continence in obese patients, but it was not statistically significant, and was not apparent at 6 months. There was no difference in transfusion rate and duration of catheterization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EERPE seems to be a feasible and reproducible surgical technique in obese patients, although the operation takes longer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liatsikos
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mühlstädt
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kallidonis
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rabenalt
authors.forename: Minh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Do
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burchardt
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Jens-Uwe
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Stolzenburg
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion; D015992:Body Mass Index; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology*; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome