Robotic surgery going ok: Siriraj
Robotic surgery has worked wonders for 30 Siriraj Hospital prostate-cancer patients treated with the novel technology.
The technique reduces the risk of impotency following surgery. Introduced to the hospital about two months ago, da Vinci prostatectomies have been successful in all 30 cases. "It's better than open surgery and better than endoscopies because it is less invasive and gives clearer, three dimensional images," hospital urologist Dr Sittiporn Srinuannad said yesterday. A seven millimetre to eight millimetre robotic arm can reach where a human hand cannot. Following surgery, patients recuperate in seven days or less. But, the new technique is three to four times more expensive than open surgery. "In some cases we offer free surgery," Sittiporn said. But the prostatectomies only work for patients in the early stages of prostate cancer. "It works as long as the cancer has not spread," he said.
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