Urology
When medication and other non-surgical treatments are unavailable or cannot relieve symptoms, surgery is the recommended treatment for many conditions that affect the male reproductive organs and urinary tract organs. These conditions include, among other things, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction, and vesicoureteral reflux.
The da Vinci® Surgical System is being used at Samaritan Medical Center for nerve sparing radical prostatectomy (for Prostate Cancer) and the surgical treatment of other urologic malignancies, as well as reconstructive surgery for benign urologic disease (UPJ obstruction, ureteral strictures, vesicoureteral reflux, among others). It is a minimally invasive approach, using the latest in surgical and robotics technologies and is ideal for both complex and delicate urologic surgeries. This includes prostatectomy, where the target site is not only tightly confined but also surrounded by nerves affecting urinary control and sexual function.
The da Vinci Surgery offers patients facing urologic surgery many potential benefits over traditional open surgery, including:
- Significantly less pain
- Less blood loss
- Fewer complications
- Shorter hospital stay
- Faster return to normal daily activities
The da Vinci Surgery offers many potential benefits for Urologic surgeons such as:
- Improved optical technology with a high definition image and a 12 X magnified view
- Improved optical technology with a 3D depth perception of the internal anatomy as compared to the 2D view offered by traditional laparoscopic surgery
- Improved instrumentation with distal articulation providing greater range of motion and 7 degrees of freedom, allowing the surgeon to operate with the same ergonomic freedom as using his hands and wrists, instead of the rigid instruments used for conventional laparoscopic surgery
- Improved precision during surgical dissection due to the motion scaling robotic arms
