title: Quality of life survey following laparoscopic and open radical nephrectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the quality of life (QoL) of renal cancer patients following laparoscopic and open radical nephrectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-two (64.9%) patients who were treated with open radical nephrectomy (ORN group) and 39 (35.1%) patients who were treated with laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN group) were included in this study. QoL was evaluated by Short Form-36 (SF-36) physical domain scores obtained before surgery, 1 and 6 months after surgery. Analgesic requirement and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores following surgeries were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The demographic features of the groups were similar. There was a significant difference in tumor size be­tween the ORN group (71.59 & plusmn; 29.83 mm) and LRN group (57.08 & plusmn; 19.33 mm) (P = .011). In the LRN group there was less blood loss, a lower transfusion rate, earlier ambulation, more rapid convalescence and shorter hospitalization; however, the difference in surgical duration between the ORN group (122.86 & plusmn; 36.8 min) and LRN group (140.17 & plusmn; 50.71 min) was not significant (P = .383). Analgesic requirement and VAS pain scores were similar in both groups. In terms of SF-36 physical domain scores, the general health perception score in the LRN group was higher than that in the ORN group at pre-surgery, 1 and 6 months after surgery. SF-36 physical functioning and general health perception scores in both groups were significantly lower in 1 month after surgery and were higher in 6 months after surgery, as compare to before surgery. Bodily pain scores in LRN group did not change significantly after surgery (P = .376).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LRN exhibited some technical advantages, including less blood loss, shorter hospitalization and more rapid recovery. Although the ORN patients had relatively larger tumors, analgesic requirement, postoperative complications, body pain, and physical functioning weren't significantly different between the groups. QoL was higher 6 months after surgery than before surgery in both groups. & nbsp;
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Acibadem University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cenk
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.. cybilen@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Cenk
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bilen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yildirim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bayazit
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Guven
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Artan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koni
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Goztepe Educational and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Basok
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, Edirne, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001810:Blood Volume; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D047368:Tumor Burden; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics