Our robotic surgery team is made up of 6 urologic oncologists who focus on urologic cancers and 2 urologists who focus on benign urologic disease, all specializing in robotic surgery.

We perform more than 450 robotic-assisted surgeries each year for cancerous and non-cancerous conditions including:

• Prostatectomy – removing the entire prostate for men who have prostate cancer; results in improved recovery of erectile function and urine control after surgery.
• Cystectomy – removing the entire bladder, prostate and lymph nodes for men or women with bladder cancer; decreases blood loss, need for blood transfusion and quicker recovery
• Partial nephrectomy – removing just the cancer from the kidney and leaving the healthy kidney behind; allows our surgeons to treat more complex cancers with this minimally-invasive technique
• Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection – removing the lymph nodes along the large blood vessels in the abdomen for men with testicular cancer to reduce the risk of cancer spreading to this area
• Sacrospinous suspension – suturing the end of the vagina to the sacrum to help suspend the vagina; for women with pelvic organ prolapse which occurs when any of the organs in the pelvic region: bladder, uterus, vagina or rectum drop below their normal position
• Vesicovaginal fistula repair – repairs continuous leakage of urine in women which can happen when a passage has formed between the vagina and the urinary tract
• Pyeloplasty – Repair of an abnormal connection called a UPJ (ureteropelvic junction) obstruction, which is an abnormal connection between the kidney and ureter that causes blockage of the kidney. Results in smaller scars, less post-surgical pain, and a shorter stay in the hospital.
• Ureteral reimplantation – Repair of an injury or scar tissue of the ureter, which is the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder. The ureter is reconnected to the bladder. Allows complex reconstruction to be performed in a minimally-invasive manner.

Robotic surgery uses slender telescope-like instruments and camera placed through small incisions as opposed to a large incision that is typical in an open surgery. The surgeon controls the robot from a console next to the patient where the magnified operating field can be viewed in three dimensions. This type of technology, which acts as an extension of the surgeon’s hands, has many benefits to our patients, including less pain, less infection, decreased blood loss, reduced scarring and faster recovery time.

If you are a patient looking to receive urological care, call 734–936–7030 to make an appointment.