Extraperitoneal endoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection: a review of 125 patients.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the efficacy of a totally extraperitoneal approach to endoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Extraperitoneal endoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed in 125 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. All patients were candidates for brachytherapy, cryotherapy or radical perineal prostatectomy. The first 65 patients underwent lymphadenectomy regardless of local clinical stage, prostate specific antigen (PSA) or tumor grade. The last 60 patients met 2 of 3 selection criteria, consisting of clinical local stage T2b or greater, prostate specific antigen greater than 20 and Gleason score 7 or higher. Patients were evaluated for morbidity and mortality, nodal yield, operative time, conversion rate to transperitoneal laparoscopic or open lymphadenectomy and hospital stay.
RESULTS: Mean operative time was 104 minutes, mean length of stay was 2.1 days and mean nodal yield was 10.2. Of the patients 19.2% had positive nodes, and positive nodal yield increased to 32.9% when selection criteria were used. Of the cases 4% were converted to a transabdominal laparoscopic approach and 2.4% to open lymphadenectomy. Symptomatic lymphoceles required percutaneous drainage in 2.4% of the patients. One patient died of massive pulmonary embolism.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the extraperitoneal endoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection is an effective and relatively safe method of surgically staging prostate cancer. It compares favorably to other methods of surgical staging.