Self-reported quality of recovery after radical prostatectomy-a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: The Quality of Recovery-15 questionnaire (QoR-15) has been developed to assess patient-reported recovery 24 h after non-cardiac surgery. This prospective cohort study sought to analyze patient-reported recovery throughout day five after open radical retropubic prostatectomy (ORP) and robot-assisted radical retropubic prostatectomy (RARP).

Methods: Between June 2022 and February 2023 adult patients, who were scheduled for elective radical prostatectomy, completed the German version of the QoR-15 (QoR-15GE) preoperatively to establish a baseline value. Between postoperative day one and day five, patients completed the QoR-15GE daily until the day of discharge.

Results: A total of 523 patients completed the questionnaires. On postoperative day one QoR-15GE scores were significantly lower after RARP compared with ORP (ORP: 113 ± 22 vs. RARP: 107 ± 24; p = 0.006) with a higher decline in postoperative QoR-15GE scores in RARP compared with ORP patients (ORP: 27 ± 20 vs. RARP: 32 ± 23; p = 0.006). The multivariable analysis confirmed an influence of surgical technique (Estimate: 4.39; 95% CI [0.27; 8.50], p = 0.037) on postoperative quality of recovery after adjusting for clinically relevant variables. Irrespective of surgical technique, we observed a consistent increase in QoR-15GE scores with similar recovery scores on postoperative days three, four, and five.

Conclusion: Patients who undergo RARP experience poorer postoperative recovery at postoperative days one and two compared to those undergoing ORP. However, recovery scores align from postoperative day three, indicating a similar level of patient-reported recovery before hospital discharge. These findings suggest that the QoR-15GE may be appropriate for serial assessments.