Davinci Robotic Prostatectomy
Bloodless Prostate Cancer Surgery
The last few years have been witness to significant advances in our ability to treat prostate cancer. Surgery has been the gold standard of treatment for cancer cure, but complications of impotence and incontinence, prolonged hospital stays and risks of blood loss have been cited as incentives for patients to seek out less invasive approaches, even if success rates were not quite as high.
ROBOTIC PROSTATECTOMY represents a quantum leap forward in our ability to effectively treat prostate cancer, reduce hospital stays, and minimize the risk of complications. In addition, in my opinion, the long term sexual and urinary bother symptoms will be less than for current surgical techniques or any form of radiation therapy as well.
Advantages of the minimally invasive robotic procedure can include reduced pain, scarring, incision size, risk of infection, and less operative blood loss. Patients typically stay in the hospital overnight and return to work within one to two weeks. Continence is achieved more quickly and completely than with traditional surgical techniques. In addition, the neurovascular bundle that is responsible for erections is dissected from the prostate less traumatically, and therefore erectile function can be regained more quickly and with greater frequency.
Over the last 2 years, about forty percent of my patients who have normal erections before surgery and have both nerves spared have reported regaining erections and having intercourse within 1 month of surgery. In short, with the da Vinci® Surgical System and an experienced surgeon, prostate cancer patients can finally realize the promise of effective cancer control with significantly less morbidity.
Dr. Louis Galdieri and Dr. Domenico Savatta performed the first Robotic Prostatectomy in Essex, Morris, or Union counties (Read the press release by clicking here). This was done at Newark Beth Israel in December of 2004.
Dr. Savatta has successfully performed almost 300 da Vinci prostatectomies and over 350 robotic surgeries.
He is the adult urology instructor at Newark Beth Israel's daVinci S training center.
Patients have come from as far as California, Africa, and Europe to have daVinci prostatectomy surgery.
Author: Dr. Domenico Savatta
Updated May 24, 2007