Anaesthesia for robot-assisted anatomic prostatectomy. Experience at a single institution

Robot-assisted anatomic prostatectomy is an emerging technique for management of prostate cancer It requires a coordinated approach by anaesthetist and surgeon as the surgery is performed using a modified laparoscopic technique and is potentially of long duration in a Trendelenberg position. We describe some aspects of the surgical technique and out-anaesthetic approach with the first 40 cases at our institution. The mean hospital stay was 4.2 days and none of the patients required blood transfusion. A retrospective audit indicated that the use of epidural analgesia in the early postoperative period reduced opioid analgesic requirements.