"Is Robotic Prostate Surgery Better Than Traditional Surgery?"

Men with prostate cancer face difficult choices. Among them: If they decide to have their prostate removed, how should it be done? The traditional open surgery, in which a surgeon operates through a long skin incision, is starting to be replaced by robotically assisted laparoscopy, with a surgeon operating a robotic system that performs the surgery through smaller incisions. Advocates of robotically assisted prostatectomy argue that the procedure brings a number of advantages. Among them: less blood loss, shorter stays in the hospital and faster recovery times. Ashutosh Tewari, MBBS, MCh, professor and system chair of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, believes the robotic surgery is better. He regularly performs the procedure. “Robotic surgery allows us to make smaller incisions, and move the surgical instruments with virtually 360 degrees of freedom, versus the larger cuts made by traditional surgery. By not cutting deeply into a man’s gut, healing will occur much faster. It also means less pain medication might be needed,” Dr. Tewari said. “The robotic approach gives me better vision, much less bleeding and improved reconstruction ability. These are the key reasons I prefer robotic.”

- Ashutosh Tewari, MBBS, MCh, Professor, System Chair, Urology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Learn more