Learni ng curve for robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrecto my

Xie Yongpeng; Ma Xin; Li Hongzhao; Wang Baoj un; Shi Tao ping; Zhang Yu; Ai Qing; Huang Qingbo; Fan Yang; Gao Yu; Li Xintao; Chen Luyao; Ming Shaoxiong; Zhang Xu

Abstract：To discuss the learni ng curve of Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrecto my (PALPN).Meth-ods :We compared the perioperative outcomes of the first 20 patients who under went RALPN to the latest 20 patients who under went LPN performed by the same surgeons .All surgical operations ere done Bet ween May 2013 and August 2013 .The surgeons had completed more than 1000cases of LPN and more than 300 cases of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prosta-tecto my .The learning curve was defined as the number of cases required to proficiently perform RALNP with shorter aver-age operative time (OT)and war mische miatimes (WIT),as co mpared to the latest 20 patients subject to LPN.Results :The two groups had comparable preoperative de mographics and tumor histopathology .No patients in either group had a pos-itive surgical margin .There was a do wnward trend in both OT and WIT during the RALPNlearning curve .After RALPN for the first 9 cases ,the average OT reached that of the last 20 cases subject to LPN.The average OT and WIT of the first 9 cases subject to RALPN werepatients 134 min and 20 min ,compared with those of 107 min and 14 min of the last 11 cases subject to RALPN.Conclusions :The transition from LPNto RALNP is rapid in an experienced laparoscopic surgeon .There were no significant differences in WIT,blood loss ,or length of hospital stay bet ween LPN and RALPN.RALPN achieved a similar OT as LPN after 9 procedures .