Robotic Prostate Surgery

Traditional open surgery for prostate cancer often came with the risk of major blood loss and scarring, a long and painful road to recovery, and uncertainty about regaining continence and sexual function. Now, however, patients have a different option, and a better chance of returning to the quality of life they knew before cancer.

Robotic prostate surgery is a new approach that makes use of the da Vinci Surgical System. An innovative piece of robot-assisted technology, the System gives surgeons better perception, increased dexterity, and an ability to make more precise movements, all with smaller incisions and less blood loss. For patients, this often means a less painful, less invasive procedure that allows for a quicker return to normal activity.

At The Mount Sinai Medical Center, David B. Samadi, MD, Chief of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery, has built a robotic prostate surgery practice based on years of interdisciplinary training and extensive operating room experience. A renowned leader in the field, Dr. Samadi has the dedicated knowledge and superlative skills necessary to deliver the best possible treatment to each and every one of his patients.

About Robotic Prostate Surgery 

Robotic prostate surgery allows for the removal of cancerous prostate glands, seminal vesicles, and lymph nodes through an advanced, minimally invasive procedure. Through the use of a remote console, Dr. Samadi controls specially-designed laparoscopic instruments that duplicate his every movement. Faster and less painful, robotic prostate surgery has a number of advantages, including: 

• Shorter Incisions: As opposed to the long, abdomen muscle-damaging incisions created in traditional open prostatectomies, robotic prostate surgery allows Dr. Samadi to make five smaller keyhole cuts through which robot-attached instruments are then inserted 
  
  
• Enhanced, 3-D Visualization: Two high-powered, microscopic, fiber optic cameras grant the surgeon an enhanced field of vision with which to work, offering a newfound clarity and visual closeness. No longer confined to a flat, 2-dimensional perspective, Dr. Samadi uses the da Vinci Surgical System’s magnification powers to achieve views that had previously been impossible 
  
  
• Greater Precision and Flexibility: Robotic surgical technology grants surgeons a better range of motion and an increased ability to perform more precise movements. The console helps transform the Dr. Samadi’s every move, translating small gestures made outside the body into exact maneuvers inside the patient. With each surgical hand motion scaled, the da Vinci Surgical System helps gives prostate surgery the feel of an open procedure while eliminating any unpredictable tremors.

Benefits of Robotic Prostate Surgery 

Minimally invasive procedures offer the benefit of less physical trauma and blood loss. In addition, robotic prostate surgery can help promote a faster return to continence, as well as a better chance at preserving the nerves that are essential to erectile function. 

Robotic prostate surgery with the da Vinci Surgical System also helps minimize: 

• Post-operative pain 
• Scarring 
• Risk of infection 
• Length of hospital stay 
• Recuperation time 

Robotic prostate surgery helps to promote a faster return to normal, daily activities. Most patients are discharged from the hospital within 24 hours, and can often return to work in a matter of weeks. 

Trained in all three major areas of surgery (open, laparoscopic, and robotic), Dr. David Samadi has a fully rounded and complete understanding prostate cancer surgeries. And thanks to the insight gained from over a thousand robotic prostatectomy procedures, Dr. Samadi is able to prevent a cancer diagnosis from destroying the lives of his patients.