Da Vinci

[Carlos]

Are there any clear advantages or disadvantages between Robotic or manual surgery?

[professoreden]

Carlos

This is an excellent question and the short answer is that it depends on the surgeon. Excellent results have been published in the medical literature for open, laparoscopic and robotic surgery, but so have very poor results and, by definition, most surgeons will achieve average results using any of the three. The literature is very clear that the only two factors that influence patient outcome after radical prostatectomy (RP) are the patient's cancer parameters and the experience of his surgeon. Assuming that you have the choice of equally-skilled surgeons, I would opt for one of the keyhole surgery techniques (laparoscopic and robotic surgery) myself as they give a much shorter convalescence and significantly reduce blood loss during surgery. Proponents of robotic surgery would love you to believe that it is essential to have a robotic RP in order to get the best possible outcome but in reality differences in surgical ability dwarf differences in potential outcome depending on the method of surgery.

The chief advantage of open surgery is the familiarity of approach but the disadvantages are a poor view, lots of bleeding as well as a long recovery. The advantages of robotic surgery are its precision and the excellent view that it affords and the disadvantages are the costs of robotic surgery and greater reliance on assistants during the operation than in open or laparoscopic surgery.

I hope that this helps. Let me know if you need further clarification or if this produces further questions.