STEPPING Hill Hospital’s surgical team have carried out pioneering new robotic surgery to treat a patient’s prostate condition.
This is the first time the new robotic keyhole surgery technique has been used to treat a patient with an enlarged prostate in the North West, and one of only few in the UK.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common condition in men over 50, where the prostate being enlarged and leading to bladder stones formation. This can be painful, and affect the ability to urinate.
Traditionally, the very large prostate was operated on using invasive open surgery. Using the new robotic transvesical simple prostatectomy procedure, the very large prostate and bladder stones can be removed using the hospital’s hi-tech surgical robot with small incisions.
The new procedure is quicker, simpler, safer and results in a quicker recovery time. Using the old procedure the patients would normally spend around a week in hospital, with the operation done robotically they will typically be out in 48 hours. The recovery time at home is swifter too.
The operation was recently carried out at theatres in Stepping Hill Hospital for the first time, with patient Barry Kenyon.
Retired design engineer Barry, 73, lives with wife Iris in Macclesfield, and has two children and three grandchildren.
He was diagnosed with BPH earlier in the year and booked in to Stepping Hill for the operation. Barry says “I was very pleased to be the first to have this new operation. I was prepared to feel unwell for about six weeks, but with this it was more like six days. They’ve done a great job – full marks to the team!”
Consultant Vincent Tang, who carried out the surgery, said: “The procedure is new to the North West.
“I am glad to see Barry recovered quickly. Certainly this has added more options for our patients with similar condition and we hope to see other patients benefit from it soon.”