Health-related quality of life after hand-assisted laparoscopic and open radical nephrectomies of renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in contemporaneous groups of patients undergoing hand-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (HALRN) or open radical nephrectomy (ORN) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The clinical data of 20 cases receiving hand-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (the HALRN group) and 51 cases receiving open radical nephrectomy (the ORN group) were analyzed retrospectively and health questionnaires were mailed to these patients at 1 year postoperatively. The two groups were compared in terms of general surgery-related information, tumor characteristics, days to return to work or routine daily activities, and health-related quality-of-life scales. Patients in the HALRN group had significantly less mean incision length (6.25 versus 17.8 cm), faster return to work or routine daily activities (5.3 versus 8.6 weeks), and earlier out-of-bed activity (4.76 versus 6.59 days) compared with those in the ORN group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in HRQOL scales at 1 year between the both groups (P > 0.05). The results showed that hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique for RCC offering earlier recovery and similar long-term HRQOL compared with open surgery.