Objective. Prostate cancer incidence have been increasing over past decade and was estimated to be 17,8 per 100000 male in 2005. That year prostate cancer was the third most common male malignancy in Saint-Petersburg. The instrument «LigaSure» manufactured by WalleyLab, is widely used in hepatosurgery, during cystectomies and surgical removal of huge peritoneal tumors to achieve adequate and prompt hemostasis. Thus, «LigaSure» allows reducing the duration of surgery and diminishing the volume of hemorrhage.

Material and methods. From 1999 to 2006, 118 patients underwent radical prostatectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy in CRIRR, Saint-Petersburg. The median age of patients was 63±5,9 years (varies since 49 to 77 years). The diagnosis was confirmed by fine-needle ultrasound-guided biopsy of prostate. All patients were divided into 2 groups. The group 1 included 56 patients who underwent prostatectomy without using the «LigaSure», the group 2 consisted of 62 patients operated on with «LigaSure» use. All patients had I or II stages of prostate cancer. There were 14 patients with T1, 41 — T2a, 33 — T2b; the remaining 30 patients had T2c disease. Patients of both groups were age and stage matched. The PSA level varied from 1,1 to 20,6 ng/ml (mean value 9,8±4,8) and 1,0-17,7 ng/ml (mean value 7,8±3,3) in group 1 and 2, respectively. The prostate’s volume ranged from 10 to 95 sm³ (mean value 40,6±21,2 sm³ ) in group 1 and from 13 to 117 sm3 (mean value 40,6±21,2 sm³ ) in group 2. Since 2003 year we have been using the «LigaSure» during some stages of prostatectomy and in contrast to D.E. Crawford we applied «LigaSure» during separation prostate tissue from bladder and seminal vesicles. After that we put sutures (usually 2 — 5) on the dorsal venous complex by using Vicril 3,0.

Results. All operations were performed by single surgical team. The operation time ranged from 130 to 370 minutes (mean value 210,3±49,1) in group 1 and from 100 to 185 (135,9± 19,3) minutes (p<0,01) in group 2. The volume of hemorrhage in group 1 varied from 300 to 4700 ml (mean value: 1520±1007,8 ml), whereas in comparison group it was 200-2100 ml (1075±517,6 ml) (p<0,05). Substitutive transfusion was required in 13 patients of group 1 and 7 patients of group 2. The volume of transfusion components was 230-580 ml. Hospital stay duration was reduced from 21 days in group 1 to 15 days in group 2.

Discussion. Recently radical prostatectomies have been performed with increasing frequency. Today the number of surgeons, performing such interventions increases every year. However, every doctor knows the seriousness of different complications which can be encountered after such operations. There are various ways of increasing the surgeon’s performance to decrease the incidence of complications. The most dangerous one was perioperative loss of blood. Having accumulated the experience, surgeons try to avoid such complications. One of the ways of achieving this goal is introduction into clinical practice of modern surgical and electrosurgical facilities for securing stable and prompt hemostasis.

Conclusions. Our findings allow recommending the use of «LigaSure» in surgical management of prostate cancer.