Quality of life, voiding & sexual dysfunction following robot-assisted vesicovaginal fistula repair: a tertiary care centre experience.

Robot-assisted VVF (RA-VVF) repair has the advantage of small cystotomy, precise dissection and minimal surrounding tissue trauma. Translation of this to better functional outcomes is not studied so far. This study aims to evaluate the quality of life, voiding, and sexual dysfunction following robot-assisted VVF repair. Women with successful RA-VVF repair were screened using UDI-6, IIQ-7, FSFI, and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires. The preoperative assessment was done in the prospective cohort only. Of the 75 women who underwent RA-VVF repair, 47 were enrolled, 33 in retrospective, and 14 in a prospective cohort. Overall, 28 (60%) women had urinary complaints with a median UDI-6 total score of 4 (0-100) and  IIQ-7 score (0-23) in 5 (10%) women. However, UDS (15 women) showed no DO with cystometric capacity (352 ± 98.12) ml and normal compliance in 14 (93%) women. Mean BOOI and DCI were 11.90 ± 7.01 and 44.25 ± 8.60 respectively, with PdetQmax ranging from 17 to 44. None had difficulty in voiding (Qmax 13.85 ± 4.90). Twenty (43%) women were sexually active, and 2 had sexual dysfunction (FSFI score < 26.55). Quality of life was "good" to "very good" in all domains (score > 90) except for the social domain. The prospective cohort showed significant improvement in UDI-6 score (p < 0.05), IIQ-7 score (p < 0.05), and quality of life (p < 0.05) postoperatively. RA-VVF repair results in minimal voiding dysfunction and significant improvement in overall quality of life. For sexual dysfunction assessment, a longer follow-up is required.

Urinary adenosine triphosphate and nitric oxide levels in patients with underactive bladder: a preliminary study.

INTRODUCTION: Various in vitro and in vivo animal studies have shown that adenosine triphosphate (ATP) has a stimulatory role and nitric oxide (NO) has an inhibitory role in modulating bladder contractility. However, it is not known what happens to the urinary levels of ATP and NO in humans with underactive bladder (UAB). METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, we compared ATP and NO levels in twenty six male patients of UAB with a bladder contractility index (BCI) of < 100 and 18 healthy male volunteers without any lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). RESULTS: The mean urinary ATP levels were significantly lower in cases compared to controls (546.1 ± 37.3 pg/µl vs. 610.7 ± 24.9 pg/µl, p value < 0.001) and the mean NO levels were significantly higher in cases compared to controls (1233.4 ± 91.2 pg/µl vs. 1126.3 ± 91.3.4 pg/µl, p value < 0.001). The mean NO/ATP ratio in cases was significantly higher than that of controls (2.26 ± 0.2 vs. 1.84 ± 0.18, p value < 0.000). Using receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis, we noted the area under the curve (AUC) for NO/ATP ratio to be 0.91 in the diagnosis of cases. A cut-off value of 2.06 for NO/ATP ratio had sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of 88.5%, 88.9% and 88.6%, respectively, in diagnosing patients with UAB. CONCLUSION: Patients with UAB have significantly higher levels of urinary NO and decreased levels of urinary ATP. Urinary NO/ATP levels can be considered as a noninvasive alternate test for diagnosing bladder underactivity.

Robot-assisted pelvic urologic surgeries: is it feasible to perform under reduced tilt?

To evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of performing robot-assisted pelvic surgery at a reduced angle of Trendelenburg position. This was a prospective case-control study of 67 patients in 2:1 ratio. Controls were operated with steep Trendelenburg position of 30°, whereas cases were operated using a graduated method to achieve minimal optimal angle of operating table. Various body habitus parameters, console time, blood loss, rise in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and end-tidal carbon-dioxide (ET-CO2), duration of ileus, postoperative stay and complications were recorded. All demographic profile and body habitus parameters were comparable among two groups except age which was lower in Reduced-Tilt group. Cases were operated at a mean angle of 20.5 ± 3.1° compared to 30° in control group. Rise in MAP, ET-CO2 and facial swelling were significantly low in Reduced-Tilt group compared to control. Notably blood loss, duration of ileus, postoperative stay and complications were also low in patients with Reduced Tilt. Various body habitus parameters were analysed with multiple regression analysis to predict minimal angle required for performing surgery with Reduced Tilt. BMI, xiphisterno-umbilical distance, umbilical-pubic-symphyseal distance and subcostal angle were found to predict the same. Robot-assisted pelvic surgeries can be performed in reduced Trendelenburg tilt which is associated with less hemodynamic and respiratory stress, complication rates and early postoperative recovery. BMI, subcostal angle, xiphisterno-umbilical distance and umbilical-pubic-symphyseal distance can predict the feasible angle of tilt.

Corrigendum to "P095 - Clinical outcomes of robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: Lessons learnt from 221 cases" [Eur Urol Suppl 2019;18(11);e3528].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/S1569-9056(19)34675-5.].

Scratch to state-of-the-art: setting up a new robotic facility in a developing country.

The potential challenges encountered for setting up a robotic assisted surgical facility in developing country like India are many. We describe the initial hurdles and troubleshooting in establishing a facility of such kind. This experience might help to decrease initial hiccups in setting up such an innovative technology at other institutes.

Bladder paraganglioma: safe and feasible management with robot assisted surgery.

Pheochromocytomas of extra-adrenal origin are known as paragangliomas. Urinary bladder is the most common site of genitourinary paragangliomas. The variable functional status of these tumors presents a surgical challenge in their management by minimally invasive surgery. Robot-assisted partial cystectomy offers the advantage of minimal handling of tumor, early ligation of feeding vessels and easy suturing. We hereby report the feasibility and safety of robot-assisted surgery in the management of one such case.

The quality of life of women volunteering as live-related kidney donors in India.

BACKGROUND: Women outnumber men 6:1 as live-related donors in our renal transplant programme. Women donors in developing regions are often illiterate and unemployed. This study was done to assess the change in quality of life of women who donate kidneys. METHODS: We prospectively studied 73 consecutive women volunteering as live-related kidney donors over a 6-month period using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief (WHO QoL Bref) Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Each woman was interviewed 2 weeks before and 6 months after kidney donation. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in all the domains, namely physical (p=0.0001), psychological (p<0.0001), social relationship (p=0.037) and environment (p<0.0001) of the WHO QoL Bref questionnaire. Donors who were mothers had a greater improvement in all 4 domains than donors with other relationships. There was a significant decrease in the depression score (p<0.0001), but no change in the anxiety scores (p=0.065) following kidney donation. All donors would donate again, if possible. CONCLUSION: In live-related women kidney donors, quality of life improves and depression scores decline after kidney donation.

Risk factors for the development of new-onset diabetes mellitus in a living related renal transplant program.

New-onset diabetes mellitus is associated with considerable morbidity after transplantation. We evaluated 78 living related renal transplant recipients due to all causes except diabetic nephropathy a waiting a living related renal transplantation. We evaluated demographic characteristics, pretransplant glycemic profile, fasting C-peptide levels, plasma insulin levels, pretransplant insulin resistance, and immunosuppression protocols. Among the 16.7% of patients developing diabetes mellitus at the end of 1 year, age, family history, and impaired glucose tolerance at the time of transplantation correlated with the development of diabetes mellitus in the posttransplant period.