Dr. Singhal on understanding functional outcomes after radical prostatectomy

In this video, Udit Singhal, MD, discusses the background for the recent Journal of Urology study “Comparing patient-reported functional outcomes after radical prostatectomy in historical and contemporary practice.” Singhal is a urologic oncology fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Transcription:

Please describe the background for this study.

The point of doing this type of study for us was really to understand if there were any changes that have occurred in functional outcomes for patients over time as a result of prostate cancer surgery. We as urologic oncologists, we always wonder whether we are getting better at what we do, are we getting better in terms of not only removing the prostate, but also in terms of how patients are doing functionally, which is, I think, what's most important with regards to prostate cancer surgery, for prostatectomy. One part of that is, obviously, radical prostatectomy has changed over time with regards to the approach, from an open approach to a robotic approach. And we often associate that as being better not only for the surgeon, but also potentially for the patient. And so really, the driving force for this was understanding whether we have made improvements as surgeons over time in how we're able to remove the prostate, but then also what types of functional outcomes patients have with regards to urinary function and sexual function. We really want to understand if we could compare eras between the past 20 to 30 years, are we getting better at prostate cancer surgery?

This transcript was edited for clarity.