Quality of Life Survey Following Laparoscopic and Open Radical Nephrectomy

Purpose: To compare the quality of life (QoL) of renal cancer patients following laparoscopic and open radical ne­phrectomy. Materials and Methods: Seventy-two (64.9%) patients who were treated with open radical nephrectomy (ORN group) and 39 (35.1%) patients who were treated with laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN group) were included in this study. QoL was evaluated by Short Form-36 (SF-36) physical domain scores obtained before surgery, 1 and 6 months after surgery. Analgesic requirement and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores following surgeries were recorded. Results: The demographic features of the groups were similar. There was a significant difference in tumor size be­tween the ORN group (71.59 ± 29.83 mm) and LRN group (57.08 ± 19.33 mm) ( P = .011). In the LRN group there was less blood loss, a lower transfusion rate, earlier ambulation, more rapid convalescence and shorter hospitalization; however, the difference in surgical duration between the ORN group (122.86 ± 36.8 min) and LRN group (140.17 ± 50.71 min) was not significant ( P = .383). Analgesic requirement and VAS pain scores were similar in both groups. In terms of SF-36 physical domain scores, the general health perception score in the LRN group was higher than that in the ORN group at pre-surgery, 1 and 6 months after surgery. SF-36 physical functioning and general health perception scores in both groups were significantly lower in 1 month after surgery and were higher in 6 months after surgery, as compare to before surgery. Bodily pain scores in LRN group did not change significantly after surgery ( P = .376). Conclusion: LRN exhibited some technical advantages, including less blood loss, shorter hospitalization and more rapid recovery. Although the ORN patients had relatively larger tumors, analgesic requirement, postoperative com­plications, body pain, and physical functioning weren't significantly different between the groups. QoL was higher 6 months after surgery than before surgery in both groups.