Prostate Cancer Surgery Too Good To Be True?

Robotic assisted prostate surgery is being questioned, due to a new study. Robotic assisted surgery has been marketed as having fewer complications, and the ability to minimize hospital stays after surgery.

A recent study has found that patients who undergo robotic assisted prostate surgery are more likely to have incontinence and impotence. The average has been recorded as being a year and a half after the surgery. The study shows approximately 4% of the patients experience these side effects. Patients who undergo the surgery with only a surgeon doing the procedure are experiencing fewer cases of impotence and incontinence.

These statistics indicate that the robotic technology was a too good to be true invention. The less invasive surgery is very appealing to surgery candidates, and they may not have fully understood the risks. It may also be the surgeons who are doing the robotic assisted surgeries, do not have enough training or experience with the robot.

The study does show the average hospital stay for a robotic assisted surgery was only two days, versus the average three days for an open surgery. There was less blood loss with the robotic surgeries.