UroToday - Hand Pain during Hand-Assisted Laparoscopic Nephrectomy- An Ischemic Event?

One of my reasons for telling visiting urologists that I prefer robotic kidney surgery to laparoscopy is how much better I feel physically during a robotic vs. a laparoscopic surgery.

This abstract discusses the pain encountered by urologists during hand assist nephrectomies. I agree there is pain, but I notice it more if the hand port is relatively tight. The tighter it is, the more pain I have.

Regardless of the reason for the pain, I think most of us would agree that doing robotic kidney surgery in a comfortable fashion that the da Vinci provides may be better than operating with an ischemic, painful hand.