5 Advantages of Robotic Cystectomy

The Amer­i­can Can­cer Soci­ety esti­mates that near­ly 80,000 adults will be diag­nosed with blad­der can­cer in the Unit­ed States this year. Depend­ing on the stage of blad­der can­cer and oth­er fac­tors, there are dif­fer­ent treat­ment options. Com­mon­ly; surgery to remove part, or all, of the blad­der may be rec­om­mend­ed, which is called a cystectomy.

One of the most inno­v­a­tive approach­es for the removal of part, or all, of the blad­der due to blad­der can­cer is through a min­i­mal­ly-inva­sive robot­ic cys­tec­to­my. While this pro­ce­dure has tra­di­tion­al­ly been per­formed using an open sur­gi­cal method, advance­ments in tech­nol­o­gy now allow this pro­ce­dure to be per­formed with the help of a robot­ic sur­gi­cal sys­tem. It is quick­ly becom­ing the pre­ferred method for blad­der can­cer surgery.

This pro­ce­dure uti­lizes the da Vin­ci® Sur­gi­cal Sys­tem where your sur­geon manip­u­lates a robot­ic arm in order to ampli­fy their pre­ci­sion. Robot­ic cys­tec­to­my offers blad­der can­cer patients the prospect of a more effec­tive surgery with less prob­lem­at­ic post-sur­gi­cal recov­ery. This min­i­mal­ly-inva­sive robot­ic pro­ce­dure allows the sur­geon to make small­er inci­sions which spare vital, but del­i­cate, nerve and mus­cle tissue.

Robot­ic cys­tec­to­my has mul­ti­ple patient advantages:

  1. Improved Pre­ci­sion - Through the 3D high-def­i­n­i­tion view, pro­vid­ed by the da Vin­ci robot, your sur­geon has a bet­ter view of your tis­sue. This allows for very del­i­cate dis­sec­tion and sutur­ing. Robot­ic cys­tec­to­my pro­ce­dures have shown a high­er can­cer removal rate com­pared to tra­di­tion­al surgery.
  2. Exten­sive Lymph Node Dis­sec­tion — In rad­i­cal cys­tec­to­my, full removal of the blad­der and lymph nodes is an inte­gral part of the pro­ce­dure for both ther­a­peu­tic and diag­nos­tic pur­pos­es. By uti­liz­ing the da Vin­ci sur­gi­cal robot, with its increased range of motion, uro­log­ic oncol­o­gists can accom­plish an exten­sive lymph node dissection.
  3. Less Blood Loss Than Open Surgery — Since less blood is lost dur­ing the pro­ce­dure, few­er blood trans­fu­sions are need­ed. Patients expe­ri­enc­ing open surgery can expe­ri­ence five times the blood loss com­pared to a min­i­mal­ly-inva­sive robot­ic surgery.
  4. Decreased Pain & Min­i­mal Scar­ring — A robot­ic cys­tec­to­my is per­formed through a series of small key­hole-sized inci­sions across the abdomen, which is less painful, heals faster, and pro­duces sig­nif­i­cant­ly less sur­face scar­ring than the larg­er inci­sion asso­ci­at­ed with open surgery.
  5. Few­er Com­pli­ca­tions — Open surgery patients expe­ri­ence four times the risk of com­pli­ca­tions and increased chance of infec­tion com­pared to a robot­ic patient.

The con­di­tions which may war­rant a cys­tec­to­my are com­plex, and you should con­sult your urol­o­gist to con­sid­er your best treat­ment options. da Vin­ci® robot­ic cys­tec­to­my is one of the new­er min­i­mal­ly-inva­sive tech­niques and has been very suc­cess­ful, when used appro­pri­ate­ly. Ulti­mate­ly, only you and your sur­geon can decide if robot­ic cys­tec­to­my is the best treat­ment option.

If you have been diag­nosed with blad­der can­cer, or want to under­stand oth­er treat­ment options, con­sid­er a sec­ond opin­ion with DuPage Med­ical Group. For more infor­ma­tion, please call 630−790−1221.

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