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radical retropubic prostatectomy (RA-dih-kul reh-troh-PYOO-bik PROS-tuh-TEK-toh-mee)

 Surgery to remove all of the prostate and nearby lymph nodes through an incision in the wall of the abdomen.

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Two panel drawing showing two ways of doing a radical prostatectomy; in the first panel, dotted line shows where incision is made through the wall of the abdomen for a retropubic prostatectomy; in the second panel, dotted line shows where incision is made in area between the scrotum and the anus for a perineal prostatectomy.

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