Evaluation of sexual and urinary function after implementation of robot-assisted surgery for rectal cancer: A single-center study

Purpose: Our objective was to report postoperative urogenital dysfunction after rectal cancer surgery, identifying possible predictors including conventional laparoscopic total mesorectal excision and robot-assisted total mesorectal excision laparoscopic surgery. Materials and Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 184 patients who underwent laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery between January 2009 and May 2013. Single questions were used to retrospectively assess preoperative urogenital dysfunction. Surgical data were collected from hospital records. Postoperative urinary and sexual function was measured with validated questionnaires and the results were statistically analyzed. Results: A total of 97 questionnaires were included in the study. Of those sexually active before the operation, 81% reported some degree of erectile dysfunction (ED). In total, 73% reported some degree of orgasmic dysfunction (OD). On multivariate analyses, older age was the only predictor for ED (P = 0.0012). Older age (P = 0.007) and having a rectal extirpation procedure (P = 0.013) were predictors of OD. Conclusions: ED and OD are common after rectal cancer surgery. Robotic surgery was seemingly not associated with ED or OD.