Objective: To compare the perioperative, functional, clinical and morphological results of a standard robot-assisted nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy and with the use of the Retzius-sparing technique.
Materials and methods: A prospective analysis was performed of two groups of patients (n=54) who underwent nerve-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (period from 2017 to 2018). The first group included 29 patients who underwent nerve-sparing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy with Retzius-sparing technique, the second - 25 patients operated on according to the standard method of bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. All patients were comparable in baseline characteristics. In all cases, patients had histologically verified localized prostate cancer pT2a-2c.
Results: In cases with use Retzius-sparing technique there is no statistically significant difference in the operation time (243.60 min vs 236.64 min, in groups 1 and 2, p>0.05) and intraoperative blood loss (131.20 ml vs 122.57 ml , in groups 1 and 2, p>0.05). Regarding the dynamics of the urinary continence recovery, the Retzius-sparing technique demonstrates advantages in speed and frequency at all follow-up periods (54.13% vs 41.81%; 68.12% vs 59.21%; 94.15% vs 90 , 63%; 98.54% vs 97.12%; 98.62% vs 97.31%; 98.83% vs 97.82% - in one week after removal of the urethral catheter, 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months in the first and second group, respectively). The frequency of erectile function recovery after 12 months was 82.17% and 71.14% in the first and second groups, respectively.
Conclusions: Retzius-sparing robot-assisted prostatectomy superior to standard operation in the speed and timing of recovery of urine continence and erectile function.

Keywords: urine continence, Retzius-sparing technique, radical nerve-sparing robot-assisted prostatectomy, prostate cancer, erectile function