Radical prostatectomy (RP) became a first choice of treatment for prostate cancer after the advance in nerve-sparing techniques.
However, the difficult technical details still involved in nerve-sparing RP (nsRP) can invite unwanted complications. Therefore, learning to recognize key anatomical features of the prostate and its surrounding structures is crucial to further improve RP efficacy. Although the anatomical relation between the pelvic nerves and pelvic fascias is still under investigation, this paper characterizes the periprostatic fascias in order to define a novel fascial-sparing approach to RP (fsRP), which will help spare neurovascular bundles. In uroanatomic perspective, it can be stated that nsRP is a functional identification of the surgical technique while fsRP is an anatomic identification as well. The functional and oncological outcomes related to this novel fsRP are also reviewed.
Written by:
Huri E. Are you the author?
Department of Urology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Reference: Prostate Int. 2014 Mar;2(1):1-7.
doi: 10.12954/PI.13038
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24693527
UroToday.com Prostate Cancer Section
