Urology News and Events

Urology, University of Wisconsin - Madison

UW Prostate Cancer Breakthrough
Tue 01-14-2003 , 6:49 pm

A new surgical technique is less invasive.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ University of Wisconsin-Madison surgeons have tried a new way to remove cancerous prostate glands that they hope will make the operation easier for men to tolerate and cut the odds of it resulting in impotence.

They did their first laparoscopic prostate removal Monday at the Madison Veterans Affairs Medical Center on David Coon, 52, of Port Edwards.

Laparoscopy involves using a thin telescope with a light at the end to let doctors see inside the abdomen and operate through five tiny keyhole incisions instead of a big open cut across the abdomen.

A computer and robotic arm are used to help position the scope and guide surgeons, who manipulate instruments through the tiny surgical openings and watch what they are doing on a video monitor.

'The magnification makes that very different from doing open surgery,' said Timothy Moon, the UW professor of surgery who led the operating team Monday.

It will take years to get enough information and results from laparoscopic prostate removal to say whether it is better than open surgery, said Bruce Blank, an Oregon Health and Science University professor who is on the American Cancer Society's prostate advisory committee.

But he said early results suggest it is at least as good and much easier on patients.

Surgeons at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa have tried the operation once and are considering doing so again, and those at St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee are also considering it.

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Dr Timothy Moon
Dr Sean Hedican
Dr Stephen Nakada

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