More men who need prostate-cancer surgery are choosing minimally invasive techniques because these surgeries typically lead to shorter hospital stays and decrease many complications, including pain. This type of surgery, which often includes the use of a robot, is heavily advertised to consumers.
Minimally invasive techniques increased from 1 percent to 40 percent of all radical prostatectomies from 2001 to 2006 and may be as high as 75 percent of all prostate-cancer surgeries today.
But here’s a detail men should know about: The most serious complications — including incontinence and erectile dysfunction — appeared more often (4.7 percent) in men who underwent minimally invasive surgery compared with traditional surgery (2.1 percent), according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers compared the outcomes for men with prostate cancer who underwent a minimally invasive procedure with men who had traditional radical prostatectomy surgery. The men who had minimally invasive surgery had shorter hospital stays (two days compared with three days), were less likely to receive transfusions (2.7 percent versus 20.8 percent) and were at lower risk of respiratory complications (4.3 percent compared with 6.6 percent).
