Robotic Prostate Surgery – What Men Need To Know
I came across this article on the web and can answer this for my practice:
“If you are considering robotic prostate surgery over traditional open surgery, you should make the following questions part of your doctor-screening process:
* How long have you been performing prostate surgery in general?”
I have been in private practice since July of 2003 and trained at Indiana University for urology for 6 years. The bulk of my prostate surgery started in 1999 as a urology resident.
“* How long have you been using the da Vinci robot?”
My first operation with the 4-arm standard was in December of 2004 and with the daVinci S, March of 2006.
“* How many of these surgeries do you perform each year?”
I performed 60 robotic prostatectomies in 2005 (80 total robotic operations) and should perform about 140 in 2006 (175 total operations). I keep a monthly update on this blog.
“* What is your overall success rate with robotic surgery?”
I keep statistics on my personal website, roboticcancer.com
“* Are there any unique considerations to robotic surgery as compared to open surgery?”
There are a few, but the only real negative once you have learned and understand the technology well is the loss of feedback. This is counteracted by a 10 times magnification of the anatomy at about 2-3 inches away as opposed to in open surgery, where we can magnify the anatomy 2.5 times with loupes at about a foot away. I believe this gives a picture that is about 20 times better for robotic than open.
Fortunately I have developed techniques that has allowed robotic surgery even in patients with previous surgeries, very large prostate up to 200 grams so far, and in obese patients (up to a BMI of 43 so far).