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Robotic Prostate Cancer Treatments

While human surgeons have been the guiding force in the operating room since time immemorial, that might soon change. When it comes to treating prostate cancer through surgery, robotic surgical methods have the benefit of being minimally invasive while providing a greater level of precision and control to the procedure.

  1. Prostate Cancer

    • Prostate cancer affects men exclusively--to the extent that it is the third-most-common cause of cancer-related death for men of all ages. Prostate cancer occurs where abnormal cells begin to grow within the prostate gland, causing symptoms such as difficulty urinating, unexpected weight loss, localized pain and discomfort, and mild urinary incontinence.

    Prostatectomy

    • According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, prostatectomy is one very viable means of treating early-stage prostate cancer (where the cancer has yet to spread to surrounding areas). A prostatectomy consists of an operation to remove all or part of the prostate gland, safely excising the cancerous tissue before it can spread further.

    Robotic Treatment

    • Because of the nerve clusters surrounding the prostate, delicacy in performing the surgery is of paramount importance. This is what led to the relatively widespread adoption of robotic surgery for prostatectomy operations. In a robotic prostatectomy, the "surgeon" is a machine which is controlled via remote control. The robot used to perform this kind of surgery is called a "DaVinci" robot.

    Benefits

    • The primary benefits of robotic prostatectomy surgery are as follows: First, it allows the surgeon to make smaller incisions, improving recovery time. Second, it allows for a greater level of precision, as not even the most steady human hands can match the steadiness of a robot. Finally, that precision allows for the maximum possible chance of excising the cancerous tissue without damaging any of the nerves responsible for penile sensation or potency

    Considerations

    • According to an article posted online at TheLatestNews.in, the popularity of robot-assisted prostate surgery is steadily climbing. Whereas merely 1 percent of all prostate operations were performed with a robot in 2001, nearly 70 percent of surgeries today utilize the DaVinci robot. This should come as a relief to sufferers of prostate cancer, as they will no longer wonder if they chose the right man for the delicate task of surgery.

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