Vesicourethral anastomotic stricture following radical prostatectomy with or without postoperative radiotherapy

Abstract

ObjectiveTo know the incidence of vesicourethral anastomotic stricture in patients with prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. Our secondary aim was to verify if postoperative radiotherapy increases the risk of presenting anastomotic stricture. Materials and methodsWe retrospectively checked the clinical records of patients that had undergone radical prostatectomy as their primary treatment between January 2000 and December 2008, with a minimum clinical follow-up of 12 months. Of the total patients, 258 met the foregoing requirements. Among them, 25 (9.6%) received postoperative radiotherapy, 12 (48%) received adjuvant radiotherapy and 13 (52%) received salvage radiotherapy. The mean age of the patients that received radiotherapy was 64 (46–77) years. The mean pre-radiotherapy PSA was 2.3 (0.04–26.1)ng/ml. The mean time between surgery and radiotherapy was 17.4 (3–72) months. The mean dosage administered was 68 (58–70)Gy. The mean follow-up was 50.5 (15–177) months. ResultsOf 25 prostatectomized patients that received radiotherapy, four (16%) developed vesicourethral anastomotic stricture. The mean time from the completion of the radiotherapy until the appearance of the stricture was 4 months (1–22). On the other hand, 36 (15.4%) of the prostatectomized patients that did not receive postoperative radiotherapy presented the same complication. Comparatively, we did not note significant differences between both groups (p=0.599). ConclusionsIn our retrospective review, postoperative radiotherapy did not significantly increase the incidence of vesicourethral anastomotic stricture.