Barbed polyglyconate vs monocryl suture in vesico-urethral anastomosis during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

AIM: To compare outcomes using barbed polyglyconate (V-Loc 180) vs monofilament monocryl suture in forming vesico-urethral anastomosis (VUA) during robot assisted radical prostatectomy.METHODS: Review of prospectively collected robot assisted radical prostatectomy data between July 2011 and September 2012. VUA technique: VUA was performed using 2 cm × 15 cm 2/0 V-Loc 180 continuous sutures or 3/0 monofilament monocryl sutures. Anastomotic integrity was tested intra-operatively with a water leak test. All patients had a post-operative cystogram at day 7 to 10.RESULTS: There were 189 patients in the study with 113 in the V-Loc group and 76 in the monocryl group. Demographics were similar for both groups P > 0.05). The median operative time for V-Loc group was 130 min and monocryl group was 145 min, which was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The median blood loss for both groups was 200 mL with no significant difference (P = 0.260). The pathology results of the 2 groups were similar (P = 0.537). Four patients in the V-Loc group and two patients in the monocryl group had radiological urinary leak. This was not statistically significant (P = 1.00) and all patients improved with conservative management. The continence rates were comparable for both groups.CONCLUSION: V-Loc suture significantly reduced operative time facilitating ease of VUA formation. Overall functional outcome and urinary morbidity were not significantly different from the monofilament group.