Why is a robotic prostatectomy better than open or laparoscopic?
To understand why things have evolved such that nearly 80% of prostatectomies in America today are done robotically, one must be given a brief history lesson of radical prostatectomy. In the 1980’s, Urologists knew only one way to operate on the prostate, and that was through an incision made under the scrotum. This was and is called a perineal prostatectomy, and this approach was also used to biopsy the prostate before the advent of transrectal ultrasound. In the 1980’s, PSA did not exist, and thus patients were rarely found with prostate cancer in its early, curable stage. Thus, a perineal prostatectomy was a rare operation, and most surgeons were not highly experienced in doing it. This approach did not provide a good access to spare the erectile nerves. Because of this, most patients opted for external beam radiation. Unfortunately, back then radiation caused very significant side effects, causing the dose to be too low and therefore the cure rates also to be low. When PSA was popu
Related Questions
- Is the type of prostatectomy procedure (laparoscopic, robotic, nerve sparing, perineal or abdominal) of significance when considering ProACT?
- Are the nerves responsible for sexual function being spared during laparoscopic and robotic prostatectomy?
- Are nerves associated with sexual function spared during laparoscopic and robotic prostatectomy?
