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Keck Medical Center of USC doctors perform California's first robotic-assisted surgery on prostate cancer patient with latest technology
Keck Medical Center of USC
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Jon Nalick, Keck Medicine of USC
)
Doctors at Keck Medical Center of USC have performed California's first robotic-assisted surgical procedure on a patient with advanced prostate cancer using a system recently approved by the FDA. The technology is called the da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System-- the latest, minimally invasive surgical system.
Urologic surgeon Dr. Inderbir Gill, founding executive director of the USC Institute of Urology and urology department chairman, removed the patient's prostate.
"What this latest technology does, the Xi system, which is different from other robotic systems that are out there is that it allows surgery to be done in various aspects, various areas of the belly without having to move the robot around, " said Dr. Mihir Desai, director of robotic urological surgery at USC.
He said the minimally-invasive system gives surgeons greater dexterity and precision.
"Using this new ... robotic technology, we were able to do a prostate removal to help cure this patient from prostate cancer," Desai said.
The patient was discharged from the hospital Thursday, one day after the procedure, and is recovering at home.
“We perform more robotic surgeries than any other hospital in the metro Los Angeles area," said Scott Evans, Pharm. D., M.H.A., CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital in a press release, "and that is a direct reflection of our surgical expertise and our staying one step ahead by having the latest robotic technology available."
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Even though the FDA approved the Xi System on April 1, it's not in wide use yet. Doctors at USC hope to use the new technology for other procedures such as colorectal, lung and liver surgeries.
This story has been corrected.
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