Do you know prostate cancer constitutes 3% of all cancers in India, with approximately 33,000 to 42,000 new cases being diagnosed every year? What’s more surprising is that prostate cancer cases are forecasted to spiral sharply in India by 2040. The latest Lancet Commission paper says that prostate cancer incidence will double to about 71,000 new cases each year in India by 2040. 

With the possibility of increasing prostate cancer cases, there is an urgent need for advanced medical treatments. Surgery often remains a first-line treatment for early-stage cancer that hasn’t yet begun to spread to distant areas. And over the years, surgical techniques have evolved from traditional prostate surgery to robotic surgery in India.  

While both traditional and robot-assisted prostate surgical approaches aim to remove cancerous tissues, these two are significantly different. Read on to learn the differences between traditional and robotic prostate surgeries. In addition, we will be discussing why robotic radical prostatectomy is considered the future of prostate cancer treatment.

Traditional Prostate Cancer Surgery: An Overview

Traditional prostate surgery, known as open prostatectomy surgery, involves a urologist removing all or part of your prostate for treating an early-stage prostate cancer or benign prostatic hyperplasia. He accesses and removes some portion or entire prostate by making a large (8 to 10-inch) incision just below your belly button. 

During the traditional radical prostatectomy surgery, surgeons use their hands and tools to carefully navigate and remove the cancerous tissues. While effective, this method has certain disadvantages, like limited visibility and precision. Moreover, it might take much time for you to recover, as sometimes, you end up experiencing more blood loss, increased pain, and complications such as infections because of large incisions.

What is Robotic Radical Prostatectomy?

With the advent of recent technologies, minimally invasive techniques are introduced to perform radical prostatectomy, one of which is robotic prostate surgery.

Wondering what is robotic surgery? In robotic prostate surgery, a robotic system is used to perform the surgery. In the operating room, a urologist uses the control panel to move the robotic arms and operate by making several small incisions in the patient’s abdomen to insert operative tools and access the prostate. 

Using the robotic system allows freedom of motion, just like a urologist’s arm, enhancing precision and control. Thus, robotic surgery allows for more delicate and precise movements than manual surgery. In addition, the robotic system offers high-definition, 3D visualisation of the surgical area, enabling surgeons to view the patient’s prostate and surrounding tissues clearly. 

Traditional vs. Robotic Prostate Surgery: Knowing Key Differences

You will be amazed to know that a minimum of 85% of all radical prostatectomy surgeries in the US are performed robotically. But why? What makes these high-tech prostate surgeries different from the traditional open method? Let’s distinguish these two prostate surgeries:

Basis of Difference | Traditional Prostate Surgery | Robotic Prostate Surgery
Surgical precision
 | Open radical prostate surgeries are performed by surgeons using their hands and tools, which leads to limited precision.  | Using the robotic system allows for more precise movements.
Surgical accuracy | While effective, the limited visibility can affect the surgery’s accuracy. | The enhanced 3D imaging provides a clearer view of prostate and surrounding tissues, enabling the surgeon to perform surgery with greater accuracy.
Incision size  | Requires a larger incision of 8 to 10 inches, which may lead to more blood loss, blood clots, urinary tract infections, and a longer recovery period. | This robotic surgery uses small incisions, resulting in less blood loss, reduced pain, and a shorter hospital stay.
Post-Operative Complications | Higher risk of complications such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction because of the procedure’s invasiveness. | Better control and precision reduce the risk of complications, leading to improved outcomes in terms of urinary continence and sexual function after surgery.
Length of hospital stay | Traditional surgeries might require longer hospital stays, usually 2.1 days on average. | Robotically-treated men need to stay in the hospital for a short duration, usually 1.6 days.
Surgeon ergonomics and efficiency | Surgeons often need to use their hands and work in uncomfortable positions for extended periods, leading to fatigue and affecting their performance. | All a surgeon needs to do is sit at a console and control the robotic arms, reducing fatigue and allowing for more precise movements.

Robotic Radical Prostatectomy: Why It’s the Future?

In the last few years, robotic-assisted radical prostate surgery has become the leading radical prostatectomy approach driven by innovations. Are you curious to know what led to the wide application of robotic radical prostatectomy? Improved functional and oncological outcomes are the primary driving factors. 

Looking to the future, you can expect the further deployment of robotic radical prostate surgery due to the following reasons:

• Minimally Invasive Approach

What will make robotic radical prostate surgery the future of prostatectomy is its minimally invasive approach. The robotic system allows urologists to make smaller incisions in the patient’s abdomen, leading to less trauma to their body. Therefore, with these surgical treatments, patients can heal faster healing and return to their regular routine quickly. The ability to conduct precise operations through tiny incisions has set a new standard in surgical care.

• Improved Visualisation

The advent of three-dimensional (3D) technology enables robotic systems to provide surgeons with high-definition, magnified 3D images of the surgical site. Now, surgeons can see bodily structures and areas that were previously difficult to view during traditional surgery. 

This improved visualisation enhances the perception of the cancerous tumour’s location and characteristics, leading to better functional outcomes, particularly in preserving urinary and sexual function.

• Reduced Risk of Complications

You can often hear many patients who undergo traditional open surgeries complaining about complications like infections, blood loss, or blood clots. Due to these complications, recovery takes long and thus, they end up staying in hospitals for long. 

The good news is that you don’t have to worry about post-operation risks or spend much time at the hospital with the robotic surgery. Now that robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy surgery is less invasive, you will experience less pain. Also, you will be less likely to contract any urinary infection, enabling you to leave the hospital within a few days. 

• Technological Advancement and Precision

The robotic systems can make finer movements than human hands, helping surgeons perform prostate surgeries more precisely. The ability to make micro-movements without shaking or instability allows surgeons to remove cancerous tissues from your prostate without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues.

In addition, you can potentially witness the applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the robotic radical prostatectomy. 

For instance, AI algorithms can analyse enormous amounts of surgical data to assist surgeons by predicting optimal surgical procedures for each patient. Furthermore, machine learning models can help robotic systems enhance precision by enabling them to learn from past surgeries and adapt and optimise their movements for different anatomical structures.

• Surgeon Control and Comfort

Prostate surgeries often involve complex procedures, burning out surgeons, which further impacts the surgery’s outcome. By deploying robotic systems for prostate cancer surgeries, surgeons can perform operations while seated at a console, increasing the comfort quotient compared to traditional surgery. 

This enhanced ergonomics can reduce physical strain and fatigue, enabling surgeons to maintain focus throughout lengthy procedures and improve post-operation outcomes.

All-in-All

Radical prostatectomy has experienced a wave of innovation in the last few decades, overcoming the limitations of traditional prostate surgeries. While both traditional and robotic radical prostatectomy can effectively treat prostate cancer, the latter offers improved precision, faster recovery, reduced risk of complications, and surgical comfort, making it an obvious choice in the future for patients and surgeons alike.