Although prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men who live in the United States, when caught early enough, it’s highly curable. The prostate cancer death rate declined by 50% from 1993 to 2013 due to (we think) early detection and treatment.
If you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer, your urologist has probably recommended that you remove the cancerous organ before starting chemotherapy. You’re considering robotic surgery with the da Vinci® robotic surgery system, but don’t know much about it.
Alex Lesani, MD, is an expert urologist who performs da Vinci surgeries and trains other urologists in this advanced procedure. During your consultation at our Las Vegas, Nevada, office, he helps you understand why da Vinci may be the best first step in treating your prostate cancer.
How does robotic prostatectomy work? Is it something like AI? Read on to find out more.
The most important point to realize when considering robotic prostatectomy is that the ultimate decision-maker and the one controlling the surgery from beginning to end is your urologic surgeon. The da Vinci system is simply a tool, like a traditional scalpel.
However, the da Vinci system contains miniaturized surgical instruments that no hand could accurately control directly. Instead, the tools are wired to robotic arms that Dr. Lesani controls via a console.
His own hand and finger movements are translated to the robotic arms, which downsize them to work the tiny wristed instruments. This allows him to make smaller incisions and more precise rotations or bends than would ever be possible with a handheld scalpel.
Dr. Lesani watches the movements of the robotic arms and tools in real-time on a magnified, full-color, high-definition 3D screen. The magnification of the operating site combined with the miniaturization of the tools means that he can do more with less.
Rather than having to open up your pelvic cavity, he only needs a few small incisions through which he threads the miniature camera as well as the instruments. Rather than needing to retract your skin and other tissue to allow access to your prostate, he performs all steps of the surgery through small incisions.
As you might imagine, small incisions and tiny instruments are easier for your body to tolerate than large several-inch incisions, retraction, and resection with manual tools. You bleed far less during minimally invasive robotic prostatectomy than you would with traditional open surgery.
The entire procedure is less likely to disrupt other tissues and organs near the prostate that’s removed. You’re also less likely to develop an infection because less of your body is exposed.
The lessened trauma translates to less pain and a shorter recovery time — including a shorter hospital stay. However, you must leave the inserted catheter in place for the same amount of time, whether you choose open or robotic surgery.
Dr. Lesani is one of the world’s leading experts in robotic prostatectomy. His years of experience means that you’re more likely to have a good experience and outcome, with less chance of side effects, such as:
Thanks to early detection and advances in treatment, including robotic surgery, most men with prostate cancer no longer die from the disease. In fact, more than 3.3 million men in the US have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at one point in their lives.
Get the expert care you need with less blood, trauma, and recovery time by scheduling a robotic prostatectomy consultation today. Call us today at 702-470-2579 or book your appointment online.
