The surgical margins were similar between the two groups. No significant difference was found in the postoperative urinary bother score or the interval to social or perfect continence between the two groups.
The results of this study have shown that the presence of a median lobe does not alter the outcomes in patients who undergo robot-assisted prostatectomy.
The median lobe can be a scary finding for the novice robotic surgeon. My team at NBI has developed several techniques to handle median lobes while preserving as much bladder as possible. Below is a video showing one of our techniques:
I have changed by preoperative management to include a cystoscopy about 1 year ago on all patients to assess for prostate shape. I can now predict these in all patients.
I am a little surprised that these patients did not have differences except more needed bladder neck repairs. I think these patients are more likely to have bladder symptoms since most have obstruction and over active bladders to start with. In my series, they usually get their catheters out in 5 days instead of 3, and I warn them of expecting more urinary problems in the short term than others.