The Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute offers an approach to prostate cancer surgery known as robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy. In this procedure, a surgeon uses a laparoscope (a slender fiber-optic instrument) to view the interior of body. The surgeon then uses highly precise robotic instruments to remove the cancerous prostate through a small incision.

To perform a robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy, Cedars-Sinai surgeons use the state-of-the-art da Vinci surgical system. The da Vinci system is comprised of a surgeon console plus patient-side robotic equipment, including a high resolution camera and micro-instruments controlled from the surgeon console. The computer-enhanced system scales the hand movements of the surgeon at the console down to micro-movements of the surgical instruments on the patient side. The surgical system cannot be programmed; every surgical maneuver must be performed with direct input from the surgeon.

Removing the prostate is a highly delicate operation because surgeons must work around the nerves responsible for urinary continence and male potency. The high resolution camera used for robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy provides surgeons with a magnified, three-dimensional view of the delicate anatomy surrounding the prostate. In addition, the specialized instruments can articulate and rotate 360 degrees with greater precision and flexibility than conventional laparoscopic instruments. These instruments further assist the surgeon in successfully removing the cancerous prostate while preserving important nerve bundles surrounding the prostate. Once the prostate is detached, the surgeon uses the robotic instruments to reattach the bladder to the urine channel around a thin catheter.

Because the procedure is minimally invasive, it offers several advantages over traditional methods of surgery, including less blood loss, less scarring, a shorter hospital stay and a quicker return to normal activities, without sacrificing cancer control.

The robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy is performed on a short-stay inpatient basis under full anesthesia. Patients are typically released from the hospital within 36 hours after their surgery is completed, and they usually return to normal activities after two weeks.

Candidates for the robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy include prostate cancer patients whose cancer is confined to the prostate and who are in good health. Cedars-Sinai surgeons can help patients decide whether this procedure is right for them.

The video below contains more information about the da Vinci® surgical system used in robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy.