Application of Blunt-Tip needle to suture dorsal venous complex in laparoscopic radical prostatectomy / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of using blunt-tip needle to suture the dorsal venous complex (DVC) in laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Methods The clinical data and the operation videos of patients, who received laparoscopic and robot-assisted radical prostatectomies by a single surgeon in our hospital from Jan. 2012 to Jul. 2014, were retrospectively reviewed. The needles used to suture DVC, exposure of suture points, bleeding of DVC, and cases of mistakenly sutured catheter and positive margins at the epic were analyzed. Continence of patients was followed and analyzed 3 months after surgery. Results A total of 104 cases were enrolled in this study. DVC was sutured with traditional needles in 56 cases, and in 52 of them the junction between prostate epic and membranous urethra (so called golden eye) could be exposed. DVC was sutured with blunt-tip needles in 48 cases, and the "golden eye" could be found in 44 of them. Suturing with blunt-tip needles, compared with traditional needles, resulted in significantly less bleeding and significantly better continence recovery (P<0.05). Conclusion Dorsal venous complex can be completely sutured by using blunt-tip needle once the "golden eye" is correctly indentified, which can decease the intraoperative bleeding and maintain a clear surgical field, improving the postoperative continence recovery.