A New Concept for Early Recovery after Surgery for Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer: Results of a Prospective Randomized Study

Purpose: Early recovery after surgery concepts have gained wide acceptance in various surgical specialties. However, limited data are available for radical cystectomy. A new early recovery after surgery concept was compared to a more conservative regimen in patients undergoing radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.Materials and Methods: A total of 101 consecutive patients were prospectively randomized to early recovery after surgery (62) or a conservative regimen (39) (intended randomization ratio was 2 early recovery after surgery-to-1 conservative regimen). Primary end points were differences in quality of life, and secondary end points included postoperative morbidity, demand for analgesics, time spent in the intermediate care unit, mobility and number of gastrointestinal events during hospital stay.Results: Quality of life parameters, as measured by the EORTC (European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer) Quality of Life questionnaire QLQ-30 did not change significantly between posto...