An operation called radical prostatectomy has long been a mainstay of prostate cancer treatment. Often offered to men whose cancer has not yet begun to spread, it involves the removal of your entire prostate gland, and will be performed in quite a lot of ways. With the normal “open” method, surgeons remove the prostate through an 8- to 10-inch incision slightly below the belly button. Alternatively, surgeons can perform a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. With this approach, small robotic instruments are passed through several very small incisions within the patient's abdomen. Surgeons sit at a console and control these devices remotely.
At least 85% of all radical prostatectomies within the United States today are performed robotically. But how do those high-tech surgeries compare to the normal open method?
Most studies show no major difference between the procedures when it comes to patient survival or their ability to manage prostate cancer long-term. Robotic prostatectomies appear to supply quality-of-life advantages for urinary function and sexual health. However, supporting evidence mostly comes from physician reports, data based on insurance claims, or studies too small to attract definitive conclusions.
Now, results from an enormous A comparative study Provide obligatory clarification.
What did the study find?
According to the outcomes, each methods were equally effective at removing cancer from the body, and post-surgical complications were relatively low between them. However, there have been some short-term differences between the 2 approaches. For example, men treated robotically had a shorter length of hospital stay (1.6 days in comparison with a median of two.1 days), and in addition they reported lower pain scores after surgery. Men who underwent robot-assisted surgery also reported fewer complications equivalent to blood clots (10 men vs. three men), urinary tract infections (33 men vs. 23 men), and bladder neck contracture, which is a treatable condition that happens when scarring occurs. Bladder leakage makes it difficult to urinate. Overall, 45 men experienced bladder neck compression after open surgery, compared with nine men treated with the robotic method.
