Two cases in which hemodialysis patients underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy

Few studies have examined the surgical treatment of prostate cancer in patients on hemodialysis. We report two cases in which robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) was performed in hemodialysis patients. Patient 1 was a 63-year-old male, who had been put on hemodialysis because of chronic glomerulonephritis-induced chronic renal failure 16 years earlier. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer (cT1cN0M0) via a transrectal biopsy. He underwent RALP. The operation took 4 hours and 55 minutes. The total amount of intraoperative blood loss was 20 mL. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged on postoperative day 8. Patient 2 was a 67-year-old male, who had been put on hemodialysis because of diabetic nephropathy-induced chronic renal failure 3 years earlier. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer (cT2cN0M0) based on a transrectal biopsy and underwent RALP. The operation took 4 hours and 30 minutes. The total amount of intraoperative blood loss was 160 mL. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged on postoperative day 8. We suggest that surgery for prostate cancer can be effective in selected hemodialysis patients and that RALP is a useful form of minimally invasive surgery in such patients.