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Eligibility

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One of the important issues that patients and their doctors discuss when considering surgery is risk. A risk factor is something about a patient that might make surgery less successful or cause complications. Some of the factors that are considered include age, weight, medical history, other medical conditions, and the characteristics of the cancer itself.

Age and Sex for Radical Cystectomy Patients
Bladder Robotics Eligibility Age

Age

The surgeons at Roswell Park have operated on a wide age range of patients, both male and female.

ASA Score
Bladder Robotics Eligibility ASA Score

Medical History

Medical history is important when considering surgery. One of the ways doctors evaluate medical history is called the ASA score. This is an overall estimation of a person’s physical health, based in part on whether or not there is systemic disease (problems with one of the body’s main systems). ASA scores are given in Roman numerals:

  • ASA I: a normal, healthy patient
  • ASA II: a patient with mild systemic disease, such as someone with well-controlled high blood pressure
  • ASA III: someone with severe systemic disease that interferes with their normal functioning
  • ASA IV: someone whose disease puts them at constant risk: for example, a person with a combination of serious illnesses

Among the patients from Roswell Park who have had robot-assisted radical cystectomy most were ASA II (86%).

A patient’s prior surgical history is also taken into regard when applying for robot-assisted surgery.

 

# of Patients

% of Patients

Prior Abdominal Surgery

86

55%

Prior Systemic Chemotherapy

13

8%

Hydronephrosis

28

18%
BMI
Bladder Robotics Eligibility BMI

Weight

Another factor that’s taken into account when considering surgery is a patient’s weight. Usually, doctors look at a calculation called the Body Mass Index, or BMI, that takes both height and weight into account. If a person’s BMI is lower than this, they’re underweight; if it’s higher, they’re overweight. If the BMI is over 30, they’re considered obese.   Although obesity is a risk factor for some surgeries, it doesn’t appear to be for robot-assisted cystectomy.  Roswell Park patients having this procedure have ranged from underweight to obese.

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