Robot-assisted prostatectomy safer, leads to better outcomes

A new study comparing the results of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) to the current standard, open radical prostatectomy (ORP) has found that patients who underwent RARP had a lower incidence of complications and better outcomes. RARP patients were less likely than ORP patients to need a blood transfusion, have a prolonged hospital stay, or experience complications such as heart or respiratory problems. ORP involves a long incisions in the lower abdomen and the removal of the entire prostate gland and some surrounding tissue in hopes of preventing the cancer from spreading. RARP is performed through tiny incisions using laparoscopic surgery. Researchers also found that RARP is safe over the long term, with a complication rate of less than 10 percent. A previous study found that  nearly 87 percent of patients whose cancerous prostates were removed by RARP had no recurrence of the disease after 5 years.