The use of robotically assisted surgery for treating urachal anomalies.

OBJECTIVE

To report the management of urachal anomalies using a robotically assisted approach.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Between January 2005 and February 2006, five patients (mean age 51 years, range 24-68) were diagnosed with urachal anomalies. Two basic robot-assisted surgical approaches were used for excising the urachal anomalies: excision of the urachal remnant via partial cystectomy, and radical cystectomy for excision of urachal adenocarcinoma.

RESULTS

All five cases were successful and the excised specimens were assessed histologically. The short-term oncological outcome in the three patients with histologically confirmed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma showed no evidence of recurrent disease within a median interval of 8 months. Surveillance follow-up cystoscopy in the patients who had a partial cystectomy showed a well-healed bladder mucosa with no evidence of recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Radical excision of the urachal tract with partial cystectomy or radical cystectomy using the da Vinci robot is safe, effective and technically feasible.