Background: Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has now become a gold standard approach in radical prostatectomy. The aim of this study was to investigate incidence and risk factors of inguinal hernia (IH) after RARP. Methods: This study included 307 consecutive men who underwent RARP for the treatment of prostate cancer from January 2011 to August 2015. The incidence of IH after RARP was investigated. Clinical and pathological factors were also investigated to assess relationship with development of postoperative IH. Results: Median follow-ups were 380 days, and median age of patients was 67 years. Incidence of IH was 11.3, 14.0, and 15.4% at 1, 2, and 3 years after RARP, respectively. Postoperative IH occurrence was significantly associated with low surgeon experience and postoperative incontinence at 3 or 6 months after surgery (P = 0.019, P = 0.002, and P = 0.016, respectively). Conclusions: Most of the IH occurred within the first 2 years with a rate of 14%. Incidence of IH after RARP was significantly associated with surgical experience and incontinence outcomes.

Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) having a bimodal "harmonic structure", which consists of the coarse-grained structure surrounded by the network structure with fine grains, was fabricated by mechanical milling (MM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) to achieve high strength and good plasticity. The microstructure of the MM-processed powder and the sintered compacts were characterized using a micro-Vickers hardness tester, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an electron backscatter diffraction technique (EBSD). Harmonic structure was created in the sintered Ti-6Al-4V compacts prepared from the MM-processed powders having fine grains at its surface. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy with harmonic structure exhibited high tensile strength and good plasticity. The effects of the harmonic structure on the 4-points bending fatigue properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was investigated under the stress ratio R = 0.1 in ambient air without any controls of the temperature. The compacts with harmonic structure exhibited higher fatigue strength compared to the conventional coarse-grained material prepared from as-received initial powders. This was because the Ti-6Al-4V alloy with harmonic structure had higher tensile strength and hardness. Moreover, fatigue fracture mechanism of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy with harmonic structure was discussed from viewpoints of fractography and crystallography. As results of observing and analyzing the fracture surfaces, the Ti-6Al-4V alloy with harmonic structure failed from the coarse grain in the harmonic structure in the surface fracture mode.

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Objective To investigate changes in uroflowmetry parameters in men undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer. Materials and methods Four hundred and twenty-eight patients received uroflowmetry testing before and after RARP from November 2011 to December 2018. Clinicopathological data, including age, initial prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostate volume, clinical stage, body mass index (BMI), uroflowmetry parameters, and core lower urinary tract symptom scores (CLSS) were retrospectively obtained from clinical records. Changes in uroflowmetry parameters were analyzed for statistical predictors and effects on post-operative outcomes. Results A significant increase in maximum flow rate (MFR) and decreases in voided volume (VV) and post-void residual urine (PVR) were seen. In multivariate analysis, age was a negative predictor of MFR increase, while prostate volume was a positive predictor of PVR decrease and MFR increase. VV decrease led to worse incontinence symptoms, while PVR decrease and MFR increase led to improvement in voiding symptoms such as slow stream and straining. Continence recovery curves showed that VV decrease were associated with a delay in continence recovery. Conclusions Significant changes were seen in uroflowmetry results after RARP, each parameter directly related to urinary symptoms. In particular, VV decrease was associated with a worsening of incontinence symptoms and continence recovery.

Background: New MRI-guided targeting biopsy methods have increased cancer yield of prostate biopsies. However, cost and time constraints have made it difficult for many institutions to implement these newer methods. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of a low-cost, minimally-invasive, cognitive MRI-targeted biopsy protocol based on 1.5T multiparametric MRI graded with Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 that is easily implemented in any low- to intermediate- volume center. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 255 patients who underwent prostate biopsy between December 2016 and March 2019 at a single facility. Indication for biopsy was based on clinical parameters including 1.5T multiparametric MRI. In addition to 10-core systematic biopsy, targeted cores were obtained with cognitive recognition under ultrasound. A control group of 198 patients biopsied without prior MRI from January to December 2015 was also analyzed. Results: Prostate biopsy preceded by MRI had a significantly higher probability of detecting both prostate cancer (68.1% vs. 43.6%) and clinically significant cancer (56.2% vs. 29.4%) (p values< 0.01). Combination of systematic biopsy and targeted biopsy outperformed either regimen alone for detection of prostate cancer. Multivariate analysis showed PSA density and prostate imaging reporting and data system score were independent risk factors of prostate cancer. A proposed diagnostic model showed sensitivity of 88.6%, specificity of 55%, PPV of 81.2%, NPV of 68.8%, and accuracy of 78%. Prostate imaging reporting and data system score was correlated with a higher presence of prostate cancer, clinically significant prostate cancer, and a higher pathological grade. Conclusions: Incorporation of pre-biopsy MRI imaging, scoring, and targeted biopsy improved cancer yield and achieved diagnostic performance comparable to newer methods of higher cost. Future alterations of possible benefit included increasing the number of target cores per lesion, and combining prostate imaging reporting and data system score and PSA density as indicators for biopsy.