Health-related quality of life after hand-assisted laparoscopic and open radical nephrectomies of renal cell carcinoma.

Aim: To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in contemporaneous groups of patients undergoing hand-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (HALRN) or open radical nephrectomy (ORN) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Patients And Methods: The clinical data of 20 cases receiving hand-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (the HALRN group) and 51 cases receiving open radical nephrectomy (the ORN group) were analyzed retrospectively and health questionnaires were mailed to these patients at 1 year postoperatively. The two groups were compared in terms of general surgery-related information, tumor characteristics, days to return to work or routine daily activities, and health-related quality-of-life scales.

Results: Patients in the HALRN group had significantly less mean incision length (6.25 versus 17.8 cm), faster return to work or routine daily activities (5.3 versus 8.6 weeks), and earlier out-of-bed activity (4.76 versus 6.59 days) compared with those in the ORN group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in HRQOL scales at 1 year between the both groups (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed that hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique for RCC offering earlier recovery and similar long-term HRQOL compared with open surgery.