ABSTRACT
Since January 2003, two male patients, 60 and 47 years old, with muscle-invasive, organ-confined, transitional cell carcinomas of the urinary bladder underwent laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy with extracorporeal ileal conduit urinary diversion (LRCEIC). The surgical time was 8.5 hours in the first patient and 10 hours in the second. The respective blood losses were 350 and 380ml. In the first patient, ambulation resumed on day 2, bowel sounds on day 3 and oral intake on day 4, with a hospital stay of 8 days. In the second patient, due to inadvertent rectal injury, which was discovered on day 3, ambulation, bowel sounds and oral intake could not be determined. A pathological examination revealed a pT1N0M0 transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, with the surgical margins negative for cancer, in the first patient, and a pT3bN1M0, with the surgical margins positive for cancer, in the second. Immediate postoperative complications included rectal injury and ileus in the second patient. With further experience and refinement in the operative technique, it is believe that LRCEIC can be performed safely and efficaciously in selected muscle-invasive bladder cancers.