ABSTRACT

Laparoscopic Radical Cystectomy (LRC) and Robotic Assisted Radical Cystectomy (RARC) are gaining increasing interest at many centers worldwide and the number of cases is progressively increasing. In this review, LRC and RARC were compared with Open Radical Cystectomy (ORC) according to the current literature. Despite a longer operative time, LRC and RARC provides more successful results than ORC in terms of less bleeding, less analgesic requirement, earlier recovery of bowel function and shorter hospital length of stay. Although short and intermediate oncological results of LRC and RARC seem to be comparable to ORC, the number of patients in each published series is still small and the follow-op time is relatively short. The long-term oncological results of LRC and RARC are needed for an accurate comparison with the open radical cystectomy, which still seems to be the standard treatment in muscle invasive bladder cancer. With the significant advantages in terms of patient comfort and encouraging oncologic results at least for the midterm, RARC and LRC has the potential to become a serious alternative to ORC.