Bladder diverticulum robotic surgery: systematic review of case reports

Abstract

Introduction: We report one case of robot-assisted transperitoneal bladder diverticulectomy and perform a systematic review of published experience.

Patient and methods: Our patient was a 64-year-old male with a history of lower urinary tract symptoms secondary to benign prostatic enlargement for 6 years with recurrent urinary tract infection. Ultrasound and voiding cystourethrogram showed a 7-cm diverticulum in the posterior bladder wall. After bibliographic search in PubMed/Medline, 17 articles on laparoscopic diverticulectomy and 8 on robotic diverticulectomy were selected.

Results: Transperitoneal robot-assisted diverticulectomy was performed with the Da Vinci 4-arm system (Intuitive Surgical Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., USA) without perioperative complications. Operative time was 80 min and blood loss less than 100 ml. Transurethral prostatic resection combined with Greenlight laser vaporization was performed in a second step.

Conclusions: Robot-assisted bladder diverticulectomy is safe, effective, reproducible and minimally invasive. Cost is higher than for laparoscopic surgery and access to this technology is limited.