This is from Outpatient Surgery Magazine
If you invested in a surgical robot, you might not be getting the most bang for your buck, according to a study published in The Lancet.
The first randomized, controlled trial to directly compare robotic-assisted and conventional open prostatectomies found that both methods delivered similar outcomes at 3 months post-surgery, despite the increased costs associated with the robot.
For the study, researchers followed the cases of 308 British men with localized prostate cancer who were randomly assigned to receive either open or robotic surgery. They followed up with the patients after 12 weeks.
While they found that the two groups had no significant difference in urinary or sexual function, there were some big differences. Patients who underwent open surgery spent a longer amount of time in the hospital after the procedure than patients who had robotic surgery, and patients whose surgeons used the robot lost less blood and had less immediate post-op pain.
The results are part of the first phase of a 2-year trial. The researchers say they’ll follow up with the patients at 1 and 2 years post-op. In the meantime, they write, “We encourage patients to choose an experienced surgeon they trust and with whom they have a rapport, rather than a specific surgical approach.”
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