While traditional surgery requires large incisions, that isn’t always the case today. Minimally invasive surgery, sometimes called endoscopic surgery, laparoscopic surgery, thoracoscopic surgery and “keyhole” surgery, has changed the way many procedures are performed. Now, surgeons treating many urologic conditions using minimally invasive techniques. During these procedures, doctors make tiny, half-inch-long incisions called ports where they insert miniature instruments and cameras into the body. Once the instruments are in place, the surgeon can watch in real time as they perform the procedure.

Robotic surgery using our da Vinci Surgical System takes minimally invasive surgery to the next level. During robotic surgery, also known as robotic-assisted surgery, the surgeon guides the instruments and a telescope into the ports using the da Vinci system’s four robotic arms. The telescope provides the surgeon with a magnified and enhanced view of the patient’s anatomy, giving them a 3D, high-definition view of areas that aren’t visible with the naked eye. The surgeon sits at a control panel moving the robotic arms that control the instruments to exactly where they need to go inside the patient’s body.

Thanks to robotic assistance, surgeons can now access the smallest areas and perform the operation with more precision than they could while performing minimally invasive or open surgery.

Robotic and minimally invasive urology surgery share similar benefits. Because the incisions are smaller, patients who have minimally invasive surgery have a quicker recovery time, shorter hospital stay, experience less pain, have less blood loss and less scarring, and they are at a lower risk for infections at the surgical site. At Ochsner, we use minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques for urological surgeries that once seemed impossible.

We offer robotic and minimally invasive urologic surgery programs for patients throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. Find a location near you.

The urologic conditions we can treat with minimally invasive surgery include:

• Enlarged prostate

• Erectile dysfunction

• Kidney masses and kidney cancer

• Kidney stones

• Pelvic organ prolapse

• Prostate cancer

Ochsner offers a variety of robotic and minimally invasive surgical procedures, including:

• Laparoscopic nephrectomy — removes kidney cancer or non-functioning kidneys

• Procedures for testicles that are twisted or didn’t move into the scrotum (undescended testicles)

• Robotic cystectomy — bladder removal surgery for invasive bladder cancer

• Robotic partial nephrectomy

• Robotic pyeloplasty — corrects a urinary obstruction in the area where the ureter and kidney meet

• Robotic radical prostatectomy — removal of the entire prostate gland for prostate cancer

• Robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection — removes lymph nodes near your kidneys after testicular cancer is diagnosed

• Robotic sacrocolpopexy — a procedure that lifts pelvic organs that have fallen out of place back into their proper positions

• Robotic simple prostatectomy— removal of part of the prostate gland for benign prostatic hyperplasia

• Ureteral reconstruction — reconstruction of the tubes that connect the bladder and kidney

• Urethral reconstruction — reconstruction of the tube that takes urine from the bladder and out of the body

• Vaginal reconstruction

While length of time for recovery may vary from person to person, robotic and minimally invasive surgery reduces time spent in the hospital. In most cases, you can typically return to normal activity (often with some restrictions) about a month after your surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery is performed with small incisions. Robotic surgery allows the surgeon to perform minimally invasive surgery with the assistance of a robot, such as Ochsner’s da Vinci Surgical System.

Minimally invasive urologic surgery is minimally invasive surgery for urological conditions.