Prostate Surgery Patients In Good Hands With Robot
INDIANAPOLIS - A procedure fusing a surgeon's skill with cutting-edge robotic technology offers prostate cancer patients a new option at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
The procedure, robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, does away with the need for a large abdominal incisions used in conventional surgery. A smaller incision is made and a laparoscope - a thin, flexible telescope - is inserted into the abdomen and patched to a computer screen where images are greatly magnified.
Several feet from the operating room table, the surgeon is at the controls of the robot, maneuvering its arms and surgical instruments to remove the cancerous prostate and bordering tissue. One arm holds a tiny camera, and the other two handle the surgical implements. The arms are inserted into the patient through three pencil-width incisions.
"This is an exciting and excellent surgical procedure," says Chandru P. Sundaram, M.D., associate professor and director of the Department of Urology's minimally invasive surgery programs. "Most important, it markedly decreases a patient's pain, loss of blood, hospital recovery time and convalescence at home."
And this is good news for the 221,000 American men who will have been diagnosed with prostate cancer by the end of 2003, according to the American Cancer Society. For many, a radical prostatectomy is the only option, but it can mean the removal of nerves that control bladder muscles and erections.
Laparaoscopic surgery has reduced the risks of incontinence and impotence as a result of invasive procedures. The added robot technology and accompanying three-dimensional imaging system cuts those hazards even more. In essence, the robot more accurately translates the surgeon's hand, wrist and finger movements into real-time movements, eliminating normal hand tremors and allowing for greater precision.
"The arms of the robot can pivot 360 degrees and this gives the surgeon more flexibility to manipulate the surgical instruments," Dr. Sundaram notes. "After the cancerous prostate and other tissue is removed through the small incision, the wound is closed with only a few stitches."
Barring complications, a patient typically can be discharged 24 hours after the surgery and return to normal activities within a week.
"Open radical prostatectomy has been the gold standard for the surgical treatment of early prostate cancer," says Michael Koch, M.D., Department of Urology. "Our surgeons are studying ways in which robotic assistance could improve upon the results obtained with open surgery."
Five patients have undergone the robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy at the IU School of Medicine since the program began in late July.
Patients with localized prostate cancer who are candidates for the traditional open surgical procedure are in most instances eligible for the robotic procedure, says Dr. Sundaram.
The robotic technology was designed by daVinci ™ Surgical System and the procedure was initially studied by French surgeons. The first robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy surgery took place at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
To learn more about the IU Department of Urology laparoscopic robotic program, go to http://www.iupui.edu/~urology/adult/lap_overview.htm.
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Media Contact: Joe Stuteville
317-274-7722
jstutevi@iupui.edu
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