Katherine Stepp
Research Mentor: Jeffrey Montgomery
Mentor Department: Urology, Medicine
Author(s): Jeffrey Montgomery, Katherine Stepp, Mary Ballor
Session: Session 3 (11:00 AM – 11:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 61
Abstract
Radical cystectomy is a major surgical procedure used to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer that often follows a prolonged inpatient recovery period. As robotic-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) has become more used, it’s important to understand whether this approach reduces the length of hospital stay when compared to traditional open radical cystectomy. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of robotic assisted versus open radical cystectomy on the length of inpatient stay and how this effect differs when focusing on robotic cases performed with an intracorporeal diversion method. This retrospective analysis will include cystectomy patients treated at the University of Michigan Hospital from 2015-2025. Demographic and clinical variables will be collected, including patient age, sex, body mass index, clinical T stage, pre-operative intravesical therapy, and pre-operative neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Operative factors will also be collected like surgery type (open vs. robotic), and diversion type (ileal conduit, neobladder, indiana). The study is guided by two hypotheses: (1) patients who undergo robotic-assisted radical cystectomy will have shorter hospital stays compared to patients who undergo open radical cystectomy, and (2) this difference in length of hospital stay will be even more pronounced among patients who undergo robotic-assisted radical cystectomy performed using an intracorporeal diversion method. Results will be summarized in a bar graph comparing the average length of stay (Figure 1). By knowing surgical techniques associated with faster inpatient recovery, this research can improve patient comfort and promote more efficient hospital resource use.
