Author: Dr. Savatta

  • Prostate size: Not all prostates are created equally

    A normal sized prostate is roughly the size of a walnut. This weights about 20-30 grams. Prostates all have different sizes and shapes. This has important implications for patients with benign prostate problems, as well as patients with cancer. It has an impact on the side effects expected with radiation, the need for hormones prior…

  • Robotic Surgery Newsletter

    I am starting a robotic surgery newsletter that can be accessed through the blog or my website. The newsletter is intended for primary care doctors, but is useful for general information for people intersted in robotic surgery and prostate cancer. Comments are appreciated.

  • New “normal” PSA velocity

    PSA screening has led to the earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer in many men.  Most urologists feel that this will lead to less prostate cancer mortality in the future. What is considered to be a normal value of PSA has changed over the years.  A PSA of 4 is too high for men that are less than…

  • Nebraska team develops touch sensor

    UNL News Release: High-resolution touch sensor could be boon to cancer surgeons, others Source: Office of University Communications University of Nebraska-Lincoln I think this has the potential to be a great technology. I think the part about helping surgeons perform better cancer surgeries is a little exaggerated. When performing surgery, I can not reliably distinguish…

  • Nerve sparing- When and how much?

    Since Dr. Patrick Walsh described the nerve sparing techniques for radical prostatectomy, urologists have been trying to spare the nerves responsible for erections. There is a debate among urologists on who is a good candidate for nerve sparing. Id like to ask urologists their opinion. Please vote on the poll below and add a comment…

  • Robotic Surgery Growth in New Jersey- Beyond prostate cancer

    This is a monthly update on the growth of Robotic Surgery in my practice. May of 2006 was my busiest robotic surgery month to date. I performed the most operations (17) and the most non-dvP robotic operations (6) to date. With 2 robots and a world class surgical assistant, my schedule is now only limited…

  • Review of Society of Urologic Oncology Meeting: Open Radical Prostatectomy vs. Robotic vs. Laparoscopic

    AUA 2006 – Society of Urologic Oncology Meeting: Open Radical Prostatectomy vs. Robotic vs. Laparoscopic Source: UroToday

  • New procedure for robotic repair of vesicovaginal fistula- Malaysia

    Robotic repair of vesicovaginal fistula: Case series of five patients from Department of Urology, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Source: Science Direct Original Article: Urology

  • AUA Live Telecast Summary

    On Monday, May 22nd, I performed a live telecast from Newark Beth Israel to the American Urologic Association Conference in Atlanta of a dvP. This was my first live telecast of a surgical procedure. Our case was a success. The patient did very well and was discharged within 24 hours with minimal pain. The robotic…