Is Robot Assisted Surgery Better?

Slowly and gradually robots seem to be taking over many of the functions that humans perform. Though it may seem like machines rendering man redundant, in perhaps all cases these replacements are for the better, such as in robot assisted surgeries.

Surgical robots have today made remote, minimally invasive, and unmanned surgeries possible. In addition they have enabled better precision with surgical instruments e.g. scissors, miniaturization, smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, less pain, and quicker healing. As a result have led to better patient outcomes.

Aside from these advantages of robot-assisted surgeries, the following examples of their superiority are worth mentioning.

Better for Heavy Women – Uterine cancer is a medical condition with which about a 100 women are diagnosed each day in the USA. Once diagnosed with the disease, many patients are worried about how the treatment, which often includes surgery, would affect their lives and family. However, it seems that robotic surgery may be a better option than laparoscopic surgery for uterine cancer. Recently the journal Gynecologic Oncology showed that patients undergoing robot assisted surgery, lost 2-and-a-half times less blood, were 6 times less likely to need transfusions, and that the time of their stay in hospitals was halved.

Lower risk of a gastric bypass complication - Gastrointestinal leak is a rare but serious complication arising out of gastric by-pass – a weight loss surgical procedure. Scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center, recently conducted a study comparing the conventional laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and a robot assisted operation, and found that while none of the robot assisted surgery group suffered a gastrointestinal leak, some patients from the conventional laparoscopy group did.

Additionally, robotic surgery has also been associated with improved survival rates for prostate cancer patients , with effective treatment of urothelial cancer of the kidney, and more.

All in all, robots with surgical instruments in their hands have a lot to offer to the field of surgery, and that robot-assisted surgery is indeed better in many cases.

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