Featuring Dr. Larry Goldenberg, CM, OBC, MD, FRCSC, FACS, FCAHS, DABU

Duration: 1 minute, 26 seconds

A radical prostatectomy is a surgical operation to remove the prostate gland from cancer.

The classic, historic way to do it is through an incision in the lower abdomen. There's a newer way, and the new way involves a laparoscopic approach, that is putting in small tubes through the belly through very small openings and removing the prostate through a small incision.

Today we use a robot to help guide those arms, and the robot has these wristed instruments, so it makes it really easy for a surgeon to work deep in the pelvis, inside the man, where the prostate is located.

And with these wristed instruments we can cut and we can sew very accurately and what the robot can do is allow the surgeon to really see well in the pelvis and see all the fine structures, such as the nerves and the blood vessels. So a robotic surgeon tends to lose less blood during the operation, so the need for a transfusion is less, the recovery time is much faster from a robotic prostatectomy.

So remember, there are different ways to remove the prostate one is open, one is robotic. They're both highly successful, but dependent very much on the surgeon, as well as on your own anatomy.

So go to a surgeon that you feel comfortable with and trust in him. If you want to know more about robotic prostatectomy, ask your doctor.

Presenter: Dr. Larry Goldenberg, Urologist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Urologist