What are the main differences between open and robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery?
A. There are several important differences. First, robotic surgery is a minimally-invasive approach, so by its very nature, patients have less abdominal trauma due to smaller incisions and most will have less pain when compared to open surgery. Additionally, our research shows that patients in general are more satisfied with their incisions after this procedure than after open surgery. This allows some patients to return to work rather quickly, some as quick as two weeks, but I tell most patients to expect to take three to four weeks off of work or heavy physical activity, as they will feel fatigued from the ordeal of surgery. Patients after open surgery tend to take a couple of extra weeks to recover physically, and often require a longer time of catheterization. The second main benefit of robotic surgery is that the blood loss during robotic surgery is far less than during open surgery, even open surgery done by an experienced surgeon. For example, our blood transfusion rate during r
