Comparison between single-port robotic radical prostatectomy and multiport robotic radical prostatectomy: reply letter

We would like to thank Wu et al. (1) for their comments on our research: “Efficacy and safety of single-port robotic radical prostatectomy and multiport robotic radical prostatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis” (2).

The reviewers (Wu et al.) said that we stated that after excluding the study by Moschovas et al. (3) in Fig. 8, the blood loss between the single-port robotic radical prostatectomy (SP) and multiport robotic radical prostatectomy (MP) groups changed from statistical difference (Z=2.37, P=0.02) to no statistical difference (Z=1.59, P=0.11). Our results were easily influenced by this study. According to the sensitivity analysis theory, we simply compared the I² changes before and after the removal of Moschovas et al.’s research.

Secondly, the reviewers said that we reported that there was no significant heterogeneity observed in Fig. 7 before and after the removal of Moschovas et al. (3). Moschovas et al.’ study was not the source of the heterogeneity. We attempted to identify the research that was influencing the I² value to the greatest extent to test the sensitivity. We found that even the most obvious influencing research only slightly altered the I² value, and the other included literature has less impact on the results than Moschovas et al.’s study. In this way, the robustness of the analysis was guaranteed.

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Translational Andrology and Urology. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form(available at https://tau.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tau-22-237/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

References

1. Tu J, Bao W, Yang J, et al. The comparison of single port and multiport robot radical prostatectomy in terms of efficacy and safety. Transl Androl Urol 2022;11:727-8. [Crossref]
2. Wei Y, Ji Q, Zuo W, et al. Efficacy and safety of single port robotic radical prostatectomy and multiport robotic radical prostatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Transl Androl Urol 2021;10:4402-11. [Crossref] [PubMed]
3. Moschovas MC, Bhat S, Sandri M, et al. Comparing the Approach to Radical Prostatectomy Using the Multiport da Vinci Xi and da Vinci SP Robots: A Propensity Score Analysis of Perioperative Outcomes. Eur Urol 2021;79:393-404. [Crossref] [PubMed]

(English Language Editor: A. Kassem)