How safe are bladder lateral wall tumors?

Purpose : The aim of our study was to evaluate and compare the effects of the type of anaesthesia applied during surgery on tumor recurrence and progression in patients with bladder tumors located in the lateral bladder wall Materials and Methods : Patients who underwent primary transurethral resection of a bladder tumor (TUR-BT) due to lateral wall bladder tumors between 2015 and 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients who received spinal anaesthesia with an obturator nerve block (Group 1) and those who received general anaesthesia with a curare (Group 2) were included. After patients with incomplete data, irregular follow-up, recurrent tumors, muscle-invasive pathology, or incomplete resections were excluded, a total of 168 patients with primary lateral wall bladder tumors were included in the final analysis. Results : Group 1 included 102, patients, and Group 2 included 66 patients. The mean follow-up was 67.5 months (range: 60–105) in Group 1 and 69 months (range: 60–107) in Group 2. The five-year recurrence rate was 40%, %18 Group 1 and Group 2. At the same time, the average time to recurrence was 21 months in Group 1 and 31 months in Group 2. Patients in group 2 were found to have less and later bladder tumor recurrence. Conclusion : Although the use of general anaesthesia alone does not seem to influence the long-term recurrence rates of lateral wall bladder tumours, it may have an effect on the time to recurrence and disease progression.