How has prostate cancer surgery traditionally been performed?
The standard way to remove the prostate has been the open surgery; the procedure is called a radical prostatectomy. In open surgery, the incision is in the midline, below the belly button to the pubic bone. The prostate sits between the bladder and the urethra, and the surgery is designed to remove the prostate completely with the seminal vesicle (that’s a gland adjacent to it). One has to be very careful because continence is an issue so we make sure the bladder is stitched to the urethra so that urine can still flow out. And we are also careful about the nerves responsible for erections, so that’s another very delicate area. What is laparoscopic surgery? Laparoscopic surgery is also known as “keyhole” surgery. It’s doing the surgery through small incisions, which are each about one centimeter long. We use at least three incisions: one for the camera and two for the surgeon’s instruments. We use CO2 gas to inflate the belly of the patient to create a space in order to do the surgery,
