A critical systematic review of recent clinical trials comparing open retropubic, laparoscopic and robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

The surgical treatment of prostate cancer has evolved rapidly, driven by technological advances that have made minimally-invasive prostatectomy feasible. The contemporary surgical approaches are laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) and robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP). These are now considered standard modalities of treatment in urology departments across North America, Europe and centres of excellence world-wide. However, despite the widespread adoption of minimally-invasive approaches there are only a handful of robust studies directly comparing the results of these techniques with the gold standard approach of open radical prostatectomy (ORP). Of note, uncertainty remains over exactly which men with localised prostate cancer will benefit from radical treatment and the reduction of surgical side-effects is paramount in optimising outcomes. This systematic review examines the current status of minimally- invasive prostatectomy focussing on peri-operative, oncological and urogenital functional outcomes.