Early Single-Center Experience with Robotic Partial Nephrectomy Using the da Vinci Xi: Comparative Assessment with Conventional Open Partial Nephrectomy

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate our experience with robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) in comparison with conventional open partial nephrectomy (OPN). Patients and Methods: This study included 37 and 50 patients undergoing OPN and RAPN for small renal masses, respectively. A single surgeon performed RAPN for all 50 cases using the da Vinci Xi. Trifecta was defined as satisfying all of the following 3 criteria: ischemic time of ≤ 25 minutes, negative surgical margin and no major postoperative complications. Results: After adjusting patient variables by 1:1 propensity-score matching, 37 patients were included in each group, and no significant differences in major clinicopathological characteristics were noted between these 2 groups. RAPN was significantly superior to OPN with respect to operative time, estimated blood loss and postoperative length of hospital stay. The rate of trifecta achievement was significantly higher in the RAPN group than in the OPN group (91.9 vs. 62.2%). Furthermore, the operative procedure and R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score were found to be independently associated with trifecta outcome by multivariate analysis of the entire cohort. Conclusions: Although this is our early experience with 50 initial cases, RAPN using the da Vinci Xi resulted in more favorable perioperative outcomes than OPN.