Extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) is the most accurate staging tool to determine lymph node involvement in prostate cancer. As urologist perform this procedure more often now, thanks to the shift to more advanced and aggressive stages, the role of ePLND is expanding. The main complication of PLND is development of a collection of lymphatic fluid called a lymphocele. Lymphoceles can be associated with abdominal pain, lower urinary tract symptoms, bladder outlet obstruction, penile or scrotal edema, infection/sepsis, lower extremity swelling and deep vein thrombosis. They necessitate intervention in up to 10% of patients treated with RARP + ePLND which includes drainage or surgery. Radiologic incidence can be as high as around 50% of operated patients with unknown clinical relevance. Many interventions aimed at reducing the rate of lymphocele formation with limited success so far. Several retrospective studies suggested using peritoneal flap fixation technique which could direct the lymphatic fluid to the peritoneal cavity out of the pelvis and its ensure its reabsorption there. We hypothesize that peritoneal fixation can potentially lower the incidence of symptomatic and radiologic lymphocele formation. By preventing this potentially very dangerous complication, it could be very beneficial for a large group of patients suffering from aggressive localized prostate cancer who are scheduled for RARP + ePLND.~Our goal is to is to test this hypothesis in a randomized trial comparing the fixation technique to standard of care, i.e. no fixation.
The PerFix Trial aims to compare the use of peritoneal fixation technique to standard of care (no fixation) during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy with extended pelvic lymph node dissection (RARP + eLND) for the prevention of symptomatic and radiologic lymphocele formation.