Yesterday, Friday the 2nd March 2012, I had the privilege of visiting the Central Hospital in Karlstad and be informed about robot surgery. My colleges from Gävleborg and I were impressed by what this technique, which is being used more and more, can accomplish specially within the area of prostate surgery.

In the beginning of this new century this technique was launched in Sweden where the urologist is helped by a robot to perform operations, so called robot-assisted prostatectomy. This method has just started being used at the Central Hospital in Karlstad.

Operating prostate cancer is technically difficult. There are many anatomical obstacles near the gland which one doesn’t want to damage, e.g the nerve of the

corpus cavernosum of the penis. That is why one operates as near as possible to the prostate gland. This also increases the risk of leaving parts of the tumor in the body. With the help of the robot one can perform the different steps of the operation with greater precision compared to other methods.

Robot surgery is a further development of keyhole surgery. Robot surgery is similar to keyhole surgery in that it also uses two small holes in the abdomen. The operator inserts the different instruments attached to long tubes through the holes. One of the instruments is always a camera that shows what is happening inside the body on a monitor.

The difference between keyhole surgery and robot surgery is the smoother flow of power between the operator’s hand movement and the instruments inside the patient. This minimizes trembles and shakes. The robot instrument has an extra joint which gives the surgeon greater maneuverability. The image on the monitor of the operation is three dimensional which also facilitates the work for the operator.

The investment of twenty million Swedish Crowns is well used money according to the unanimous opinion of both politicians and surgeons in Karlstad. By using the new technology in Karlstad it has become easier to recruit more doctors. This has given Karlstad a good number of urologists.

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InK

Swedish;    http://landstingsradingemarkalen.blogspot.com/2012/03/robotkirurgi.html