Robotic Surgery For Prostate Cancer

Rosie the Robot, from the old cartoon, set in the future, The Jetsons, was (thankfully) never asked to give a robotic surgery for prostate cancer to Little Elroy. Would you believe that in real life that is happening now? Once you get passed the headlines, you realize it’s not as outlandish as it seems. The doctor works with high tech machinery to aid him with the surgery.

It’s a minimally invasive alternative to traditional prostate surgery. It employs the use an high tech, upgraded laparoscopic device. Patients usually give the procedure positive feedback. This is a trend you can bet you will see more of.

Most people have yet to hear of this, but it’s not really new. Since the late 1990s, many surgeons have logged thousands of operations with their robotic partners. The earliest work was done in the mid to late 1980s.

The robot’s name is the da Vinci system. It is able to get the job done without the need to cut open the patient, as is protocol in most operations. Instead, four rather small holes are made, allowing small tooled probes and a camera to go in and operate.

Tissue from encompassing areas is left undisturbed in a way would be impossible with regular surgery. Between the da Vinci’s anti hand tremor technology, the improved visuals from the stereoscopic camera and the meticulous movements of the tools, the procedure is a significant improvement.

This robotic assisted operation has been referred to as “the bloodless prostrate surgery.” The loss of blood is dramatically less than with the traditional method, and the amount of pain is also greatly reduced. The recovery time is also lessened.

It is not difficult to understand why patients of the robotic assisted prostate operation rate their experience better than those who go through the traditional procedure. A number of undesirable side effects of the normal surgery are missing, as is the unsightly, sizable scar. (There are just four small spots.)

Here is something you would not expect to see from patients of the traditional, open prostate procedure: Some patients literally walk out within hours. Most patients are home within 24 hours.

Is robotic surgery for prostate cancer the only procedure of its type? Absolutely not. There are similar operations in the following areas: Urology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics, Gynecology, Gastrointestinal, Electrophysiology, Neurosurgery, Cardiology, Cardiothoracic and General surgery.

What does the future hold? Is there a chance for Rosie the Robot to become a surgeon? When you look at all the changes that have come about in the past century (or even 20 years), you know better than to never say, “never.” In mid 2006, an “artificial intelligence doctor” performed the first solo surgery on a man thirty four years old, to treat a heart arrythmia.

The surgery was rated to have a better outcome than most human surgeons. The designer said that due to the database of ten thousand similar surgeries it had to learn from, it was more than prepared for the job. Indeed, the designer predicts that within the next ten to fifteen years, half of surgeries will be done by unassisted robots.

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