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What Exactly Is Robotic Surgery For Prostate Cancer?

September 3rd, 2010 by Guest Author

It almost sounds like an episode of the old cartoon that was set in the the year 2062, The Jetsons. Imagine Rosie the Robot performing a prostrate operation on George. Well, robotic surgery for prostate cancer is now a reality. At the least, that is what they are calling it, but it is not exactly what it sounds like. The procedure is performed by a doctor operating a remote controlled device.

It is a minimally invasive alternative to traditional prostate surgery. It employs the use an hi-tech, upgraded laparoscopic device. Patients typically give the procedure positive feedback. This is a trend you can bet you’ll see much more of.

You may be amazed to learn that robotic assisted surgery is hardly a new phenomenon. Actually, it isn’t uncommon for a doctor to have performed thousands of these operations, starting in the 1990’s. (The first robotic assisted operation was in 1985.)

The particular machinery is named the da Vinci surgical system. It allows the prostate to be operated on, or removed without having to open the patient’s body, like most surgeries. Four small holes are made that enable tiny instruments to penetrate and do the job.

The sturdiest human hand has micro tremors, however the da Vinci system compensates, creating tremor free execution. Put together with the better than naked eye vantage point of the camera, and the precision tools, tissue from nearby areas is left unmolested.

“The bloodless prostrate surgery,” is exactly what this is sometimes referred to, because of the minimal blood loss. Patients report much less overall hurting than will be expected in a regular operation, and the amount of time to get back to regular life is also greatly accelerated.

Other patient-pleasing advantages of this procedure, over the open prostate surgery, is the usual ugly scar is not a factor. You’ll find just four little, round pocks. The typical method has a some rather displeasing side effects that the newer surgery doesn’t induce. There’s no mystery as to why minimally invasive procedures consistently receive more positive patient feedback.

To give you an idea of how less invasive the robotic operation is, it is not uncommon for patients to walk out several hours after the procedure was performed. Most patients can leave the hospital the next day.

Robotic surgery for prostate cancer isn’t the only surgery of its kind. You will find similar operations done within the fields of; General surgery, Cardiothoracic, Cardiology, Electrophysiology, Gastrointestinal, Gynecology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pediatrics and Urology.

So what about Rosie the Robot? Is she ever going to get a chance to perform surgery? If you take a look at all the advancements which have been made in your lifetime alone, it could be wise not to bet against her. Just a handful of years ago, May, 2006, a robotic system which is now called, “the first artificial intelligence doctor,” performed a surgery, under its own control, on a guy in his mid 30’s who had a case of heart arrhythmia.

The designer of the robot said that due to the ten thousand similar operations it had in its database, it was more than qualified to perform the job. In fact, the end result was rated better than if the surgery have been done by “the average surgeon”. The designer continued to predict that 50 % of all surgeries within ten to fifteen years, will probably be performed by robotic units under their own control.

To learn more about Prostate Cancer, please visit http://www.prostate-cancer-blog.org