Yale New Haven Hospital offers the latest treatments for prostate cancer including single-port radical prostatectomy. This robotic surgery is not readily available at most hospitals and allows patients to go home the same day due to reduced risk of complications.
Isaac Kim, MD, PhD, MBA, chief of Urology at Yale New Haven Hospital and chair of the Department of Urology at Yale School of Medicine has performed over 2,100 robotic prostatectomies in men with prostate cancer. He said thanks to the latest techniques, including single-port radical prostatectomy, patients who receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer have a high chance of an excellent outcome.
“In the world of cancer, prostate cancer is very, very curable. In large part that is because of advances in science and technology,” Dr. Kim said.
He answered some common questions about single-port robotic prostatectomies.
The more traditional multi-port radical prostatectomy uses a route through the peritoneal space, where the bowel sits. Patients who undergo this procedure typically spend one night in the hospital.
A single-port radical prostatectomy allows the surgeon to access the area in front of the peritoneal space. By doing this, the potential morbidity is a lot lower and patients can go home the same day of the surgery.
The day of the procedure, the patient will arrive and wait in the pre-operative area. They will undergo general anesthesia combined with local anesthetics. After waking up, the patient is monitored for about three hours before they can go home. A catheter will drain urine for about a week.
A week after the procedure, the patient will return to have the catheter removed. The next follow up visit takes place three months later. Additional follow-up visits will decrease gradually in the years to follow.
Seek out the right surgeon with the appropriate expertise and experience for the best outcome. Just because a patient undergoes robotic surgery does not mean it is automatically better than a traditional surgery. Robotics is simply a technology and whoever is on the other end controlling the robot is going to dictate the outcome.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 203-785-2815.
