Minimally invasive surgery with a fast recovery time in Glasgow.
This can be done via an open incision, laparoscopically (keyhole surgery), or with robotic assistance.
At Ross Hall hospital, our team of expert urologists are skilled in all types of radical prostatectomy procedures to ensure you get the results you are looking for.
A robotic radical prostatectomy, also known as robotic prostatectomy or a robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, is a type of keyhole surgery performed with the help of our state-of-the-art robotic system.
When we refer to robotic surgery, or robotics-assisted surgery, we don't mean an operation performed by a robot. The procedure is still performed by your consultant urological surgeon who understands your individual needs and circumstances. The robotic element is simply a technical surgical tool that your surgeon uses to help them be as precise as possible.
For some patients having robotic surgery to remove the prostate, your surgeon may be able to use a technique called nerve‑sparing prostatectomy. This means the surgeon carefully works around the delicate nerves and tissues next to the prostate that control erections. The aim is to protect as many of these nerves as possible, so there is a better chance of getting erections after the operation. This technique requires very careful and precise surgical techniques.
Our fixed-price packages include the cost of your surgery and all appropriate aftercare appointments. However, any pre-surgery diagnostic tests and your consultant’s outpatient appointment. consultation fee are charged separately.
Our flexible payment options help you spread the cost of your payment across a time period that suits you. We offer fixed-term monthly payment plans over one to five years with no deposit required. If you decide to pay over 10 months, you will pay interest-free. If you are paying for a longer period, you will pay 9.9% APR.
If you have private health insurance, surgery will usually be covered by your provider. Speak to your insurer directly to find out.
The most common symptoms of prostate cancer can vary, especially in the early stages of the disease when it might not cause any noticeable signs. As the cancer progresses, some uncomfortable symptoms may appear, including:
It is important to keep in mind that many of these symptoms can also be caused by conditions other than prostate cancer, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or prostatitis.
Regular screening and early detection are crucial for detecting prostate cancer, especially for men over 50 or those with a family history of the disease.
Prostate cancer can be detected with a non-invasive PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test.
PSA is a protein produced by cancerous and noncancerous cells in your prostate. It is normal to have a small amount of PSA in your blood, and the amount rises as you get older. A raised PSA level may suggest you have a problem with your prostate, which can sometimes be prostate cancer, but not always.
At Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow, our dedicated team of urological consultants are specially trained to use the Da Vinci robotic surgical system to perform robotic radical prostatectomy. This is a market-leading, cutting-edge machine designed to make prostate surgery as successful as possible.
This robotic technology helps to redefine many aspects of traditional surgery, including imaging, navigation, and technique. This helps your consultant perform the surgery seamlessly using advanced technology, which speeds up your recovery time.
At Ross Hall Hospital, we are proud to be the only private hospital in Scotland with Da Vinci technology.
More than ten of our consultants are specially trained in using the advanced robot, enabling us to offer patients a huge range of robotically assisted treatment that is not available anywhere else privately in Scotland. This spans many medical fields, including general, colorectal, gynaecological, and urological surgery.
The robot consists of a series of mechanical arms, which are linked to a console controlled by your consultant placed beside you in the operating theatre. The robot translates your consultant's hand movements in real time, so that the robotic arms move in the same way. Your consultant can watch everything that's happening via high-definition, 3D real-time image. They can use the da Vinci robotic system to make smaller and more accurate movements than possible with their own hands.
It is important to know that your surgery is not performed by a robot. Rather, your surgeon uses the console to guide the robot and make minute, precise movements with the robotic arms. Your consultant is in control the entire time. They manipulate the robot so that it moves alongside them, performing each movement with the utmost precision and accuracy for excellent results.
There are many benefits of robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy including:
Your consultant can make very small, controlled movements during surgery with the state-of-the-art robotic arms that otherwise would not be possible with human hands. This improved range of motion reduces the chances of complications, leading to a faster recovery and less pain after surgery.
One of the major benefits of having a robotic prostatectomy is that it helps your consultant preserve the tissue and structures that surround your prostate.
Preserving as much of this anatomy as possible during the operation is highly beneficial for several reasons. The structures surrounding your prostate play a vital role in your urinary and erectile function. Preventing as much damage to these structures reduces complications such as incontinence and issues with spontaneous erections.
Other benefits of reducing damage to surrounding tissue and nerves include:
“The Da Vinci allows us to be very precise in preserving the anatomy around the prostate due to its enhanced precision and optics. The advantage is to be able to be as precise as possible in removing what needs to be and sparing as much as of the anatomy that surrounds it as possible which will translate into a good recovery of erectile function and urinary continence.”
Consultant Urological Surgeon at Ross Hall Hospital, Mr Lorenzo Dutto
A speedier recovery means you can return to many aspects of everyday life a lot faster. This includes activities such as:
Our robotic technology during a radical prostatectomy significantly reduces your recovery time and hospital stay following surgery. By returning to the activities you love, you can focus on your recovery and journey toward full recovery.
"As an experienced cancer surgeon, I have been trained in robotic surgery for prostate cancer in Oxford and Toronto, both world-leading centres of excellence, and am one of a few robotic surgeons in the West of Scotland. Previously, before the robotic approach became available, we used to do open surgery. However, with robotic surgery, my patients have smaller incisions which are barely visible, significantly less pain, far less blood loss, shorter stay in hospital of one to two days, faster recovery and excellent outcomes. The enhanced optics are 3-D and magnified which means I can perform surgery even more precisely."
“Robotic Surgery has revolutionised care for men with prostate cancer. It is the standard of care for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy, with lower incidence of pain, less bleeding and quicker return to pre-operative levels. It allows me to better spare the delicate nerves around prostate that control erectile function, as well as preserve the anatomical structures that influence continence outcomes. Personally, I wouldn't dream of doing a prostatectomy without a robotic system, since I know how beneficial it is for the patient.”
“The use of the surgical robot in urology has been used increasingly since its inception in the early 2000’s. Since then, the robotic platform has seen many improvements, in a similar fashion to how other IT related technology has improved over the last 20 years. It is an instrument that has allowed prostate cancer surgery to make a gigantic leap forward, combining the benefits of traditional keyhole surgery to its augmented precision, improved vision and visual magnification. This has progressively increased our understanding of the “details” of anatomy, which has in turn led to a significant improvement in functional outcomes. In the setting of robotic assisted radical prostatectomy (RALP), we have been able to progressively improve functional outcomes, such as early return to urinary continence and erectile function recovery after the surgery, whilst maintaining oncological outcomes (cancer removal) and reducing postoperative stay, blood loss and postoperative pain.
However, we should not be led to think that the robot is an automated tool that does its work independently. In truth it mimics the movements that the surgeon does outside of the patient’s body on a much smaller scale inside the patient. What this means is that the use of the robot will not automatically translate into improved outcomes, but will rather enable surgeons to optimally implement their expertise and understanding of the anatomy to obtain the aforementioned improved results.”
If you want to know more about this procedure and find out if it's the right treatment for you, book your appointment online today.
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Consultant urological surgeon Mr Lorenzo Dutto explains the benefits of having a robotic prostatectomy to treat prostate cancer using the da Vinci surgical system.
