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Satisfaction and regret after radical prostatectomy procedures studiedAccording to study conclusions, one in five men who undergoes prostate surgery to treat cancer later regrets the decision. Surprisingly, regret is highest among men who opt for robotic prostatectomy, a minimally invasive surgery that is growing in popularity as a treatment. The study also adds to growing concerns that men are being misled about the real risks and benefits of robotic surgical procedures used to treat prostate cancer. Overall, the vast majority of men were satisfied. However, 19 percent regretted their treatment choice. Notably, men who had undergone robotic surgery were four times more likely to regret their choice than men who had undergone the open procedure. African-American race was significantly associated with insatisfaction. This may be caused by a possible broad black-white perception gap in health care. It may also be caused by the fact that patients tend to give higher ratings of satisfaction to race-concordant physicians and none of the physicians in the study were African American. Further research in more diverse patient populations is needed. Also of interest is the finding that longer follow-up was independently associated with satisfaction and regret, i.e. patients tend to regret their treatment choice more if poor health-related quality of life persists over a longer period of time. The authors suggest the higher level of regret among robotic patients suggests that they had higher expectations for their recovery, possibly because the robotic procedure is widely touted as a more innovative surgery than traditional radical prostatectomy. Even among men who had the same scores on erectile function and other measures of post-surgery recovery, the robotic patients still reported a higher level of dissatisfaction and regret than other men. Part of the problem may be that doctors who perform robotic prostatectomies commonly cite potency rates as high as 95 percent and above among their patients, giving patients an unrealistic view of life after that radical surgery. ### About the European Association of Urology (EAU) The European Association of Urology (EAU) represents more than 16,000 urology professionals across Europe and worldwide. Its mission is to raise the level of urological care in Europe. The EAU has special sections on the Internet, such as Uroweb (www.uroweb.org) and Urosource (www.urosource.com), which allows for direct communication between members. NOTE: Issues on this site regarding prostate cancer and treatment options, are provided for information only, and are not meant to substitute for the advice of your own physician or other medical professional. Prostate-Report.org does not endorse any specific product, service or treatment. |
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