This is a monthly update on the growth of Robotic Surgery in my practice.
Original blog entry about robotic surgery growth was in November of 2005 and is updated monthly.
For February, I performed 13 robotic operations including 11 prostate removals for cancer, 1 prostate operation for BPH, and 1 reconstructive operation on a kidney.
The highlights for the month were:
1) A record 11 da vinci prostatectomies for 1 month.
2) My first and among the worlds first robotic operations for BPH, as can be read about on a previous blog entry:
http://www.njurology.com/RoboticSurgeryBlog/2006/02/robotic_simple_prostatectomy_r.php#more
3) WIth the lack of robotic time, I have been mostly scheduling prostate operations and not other operations that I can also perform laparoscopically with good results, like kidneys.
There has been an interesting trend. The last 5 months I have done 13 procedures 3 times, 14 once, and 11 another.
All the while my waiting time has been increasing. This has led to a slowing of the growth of my robotic practice, since I had maxed out the operating room time, but also some patients seeking surgeons who could perform their surgery sooner.
With the addition of the newest davinci unit, the S to our hospitals operating room, I expect this to change.
I expect to do about 20-25 operations per month starting in April, when the new unit will be operational.
Newark Beth Israel will become one of about 2 dozen hospitals in the world to have more the one robot, as well as the first one in the NY tri-state area to have the newest robot.