Who Is An Appropriate Candidate For A Laparoscopic Or Robot-Assisted Prostatectomy?

Dr. Robert Uzzo answers the question: 'Who Gets Robotic/Laparoscopic Surgery?'

ByABC News
November 19, 2008, 12:19 PM

Jan. 01, 2009 -- Question: Who is an appropriate candidate for a laparoscopic or robot-assisted prostatectomy?

Answer: The ability to do laparoscopic or robotic surgery very much depends on a number of issues including the patient's history. For example, if they've had a number of prior surgeries they may not be a very good candidate for robotic or laparoscopic surgery. Another reason that a patient may not be a good candidate is if they've had prior prostate surgery. Some men have had their prostates resected or scraped out, the supposed TURP procedure. Others have had radiation to their prostate or seed pellets.

These can make laparoscopic or robotic prostatectomy very difficult. It's not that they can't be done. It's that sometimes it becomes more difficult to do that way and in the risk/benefit ratio, that has to be considered. Finally, for very, very large prostates, robotic or laparoscopic prostatectomy may be very difficult. And so the things you need to consider are your personal history and whether or not the prostate has been previously operated on and finally the size of the prostate gland.