Cavernosal Nerve Preservation During Robot-assisted Radical Prostatectomy Is a Graded Rather Than an All-or-none Phenomenon: Objective Demonstration by Assessment of Residual Nerve Tissue on Surgical Specimens

Subjective NS classification using the surgeon's intraoperative perception correlated significantly with the area of residual nerve tissue on the prostatectomy specimens determined by the pathologist. It is possible to intentionally tailor the amount of NS performed at surgery. This finding demonstrates that NS is a graded rather than an all-or-none phenomenon that can even go beyond the traditional concept of complete, partial, or no NS.