Daniel Eun, MD, Fox Chase-Temple Urologic Institute Provider, discusses the potential benefits of robotic and minimally invasive surgery, and explains his goals for patients following robotic prostatectomy, including maintaining continence and sexual function.
My name is Doctor Daniel Un and I am the director of Minimally invasive and Robotic Logic, oncology and reconstructive surgery. I'm also the chief of robotic Surgery at Temple University Hospital. The way I think about robotics is uh it's a way uh for, for us to provide capabilities of an open surgeon. But through minimally invasive incisions and so conventional laparoscopic incisions are typically 5 to 10 millimeters in length. And uh if we can provide incisions to that size, yet uh provide the capabilities as if the abdomen is wide open and we could put our hands into the abdomen. That's essentially the way I see robotics. My goals for robotic prostatectomy would be uh to remove their cancer completely uh to focus on the parts of the operation that's really going to preserve the the individual's ability to be remain continent after surgery. Uh And lastly for some men, the ability to uh maintain sexual function is very important, especially in young men. And so this is where the conversation comes in where I really try to understand what the patients uh desires, where their desires lay, where their priorities are. And then we tailor the operation to their, to fit their specific needs. The advantages of a robotic prost omy may include um less blood loss, uh easier recovery, short hospital stay. Um and in experience, surgeons hands, you can also have improved functional outcomes.
