TITLE:
The Real Learning Curve for Open Radical Cystectomy
AUTHORS:
Marcos Francisco Dall’Oglio, Fabrício Kaminagakura, José Augusto da Silva Jr., Rafaela Piovesan Dall’Oglio
KEYWORDS:
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms, Cystectomy, Learning Curve, Medical Residency
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Urology,
Vol.16 No.8,
August
31,
2026
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Bladder cancer is a lethal disease, accounting for the fourth most common kind of cancer in America. This study evaluated, along one year, the evolution of second year urology residents, performing open radical cystectomy and urinary diversion to establish the learning curve for the surgery. Patients and Methods: It is a retrospective study of 132 patients undergoing open radical cystectomy with urinary diversion, performed in a high complexity public hospital in the state of São Paulo, in the period from the 16 January 2014 to the 30 December 2020. Results: In this study patients’ mean age was 63.7, 78.7% were males. Mean surgical time was 281 minutes. Estimated mean blood loss was 783 ml. Whereas the mean amount of transfusion assessed by number of bags was 0.96. Median hospital stay was 10 days. Conclusion: The learning curve for urology residents is based on two pillars: quantity and periodicity. We noticed that after performing eight open radical cystectomies (ORC), the resident doctor starts presenting fewer postoperative complications and shorter surgical time. Other studies should be done with a larger number of cases to reinforce our results.