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Login to My HealthThe USC Experience
Robotic surgery (also known as robotic assisted laparoscopic surgery) has gained widespread acceptance in performing many complex urological procedures. The surgeons in the Robotic Surgery Program at the USC Institute of Urology offer a complete spectrum of robotic procedures for a variety of urological conditions.
USC’s robotic surgery team combined is considered to have the most comprehensive clinical experience in the world for treating urologic cancers in a minimally invasive manner. In fact, they have the most experience in robotic surgery for partial nephrectomies with more than 1,000 cases performed to date. Additionally, it was USC’s surgeons who performed the first clinical renal cryotherapy cases and they have the longest follow-up record.
Our surgeons also have been involved in research that has pioneered many of the robotic surgical techniques that have now become standards of care, and their results are consistently published in peer-reviewed journals. In fact, USC surgeons have the most published experience with laparoscopic/robotic treatment for complex kidney tumors.
USC surgeons were the first to:
• Use augmented reality to improve the precision of robotic and laparoscopic kidney, prostate and bladder cancer surgery
• Perform robotic prostate biopsyProstate Biopsytest to remove small samples of prostate tissue to be examined
• Use a flexible robotic system to treat kidney stones by performing a flexible ureteroscopy
• Report the use of single-port surgery for reconstructive procedures, partial nephrectomyPartial Nephrectomyremoval of diseased part of the kidney while sparing the healthy part , donor nephrectomy and simple prostatectomyProstatectomysurgical removal of all (radical) or part (partial) of the prostate gland and now USC surgeons have more experience in this type of surgery than any other surgical team
• Pioneer the robotic/laparoscopic radical cystectomyCystectomysurgical removal of all (radical) or part (partial) of the urinary bladder technique for bladder cancer
• Pioneer the use of robotic/laparoscopic techniques to perform extended lymph node dissection for bladder cancer with nodal yields comparable to open surgery
Robotic Surgery Benefits
Until very recently patients who required surgery had very few options – traditional open surgery with a large open incision or laparoscopy, which uses small incisions but is typically limited to very simple procedures. However, now thanks to new technological breakthroughs, surgery using the assistance of a robotic system is providing patients with innumerable benefits including:
• Better clinical outcomes
• Significantly less pain
• Less risk of infection
• Reduced blood loss
• Fewer blood transfusions
• Less scarring
• Shorter hospital stay
• Faster return to normal, daily activities
The Most Advanced Robotic Surgical System
USC was the second medical institution in Southern California to acquire the latest and most advanced robotic surgery technology available, the da Vinci SI Surgical System, which by virtue of its improved features increases operating room efficiency and reduces surgical time.
The SI system provides our surgeons with a greater range of motion to work with than previous robotic surgery technology allowed. In addition, the new system has a dual console, which means that two surgeons can work on the same case, either to assist or train.
