Minimally invasive retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for men with testis cancer: a retrospective cohort study of safety and feasibility

Purpose To describe the perioperative safety, functional and immediate post-operative oncological outcomes of minimally invasive RPLND (miRPLND) for testis cancer. Methods We performed a retrospective multi-centre cohort study on testis cancer patients treated with miRPLND from 16 institutions in eight countries. We measured clinician-reported outcomes stratified by indication. We performed logistic regression to identify predictors for maintained postoperative ejaculatory function. Results Data for 457 men undergoing miRPLND were studied. miRPLND comprised laparoscopic ( n = 56) or robotic ( n = 401) miRPLND. Indications included pre-chemotherapy in 305 and post-chemotherapy in 152 men. The median retroperitoneal mass size was 32 mm and operative time 270 min. Intraoperative complications occurred in 20 (4%) and postoperative complications in 26 (6%). In multivariable regression, nerve sparing, and template resection improved ejaculatory function significantly (template vs bilateral resection [odds ratio (OR) 19.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.5–75.6], nerve sparing vs non-nerve sparing [OR 5.9, 95% CI 2.3–16.1]). In 91 men treated with primary RPLND, nerve sparing and template resection, normal postoperative ejaculation was reported in 96%. During a median follow-up of 33 months, relapse was detected in 39 (9%) of which one with port site (< 1%), one with peritoneal recurrence and 10 (2%) with retroperitoneum recurrences. Conclusion The low proportion of complications or peritoneal recurrences and high proportion of men with normal postoperative ejaculatory function supports further miRPLND studies.