Pioneering prostate cancer surgery for patients in Yorkshire | News

Surgeons at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust have successfully carried out ‘retzius sparing’ robotic surgery for the treatment of prostate cancer for the first time in Yorkshire.

65-year-old Michael Nowakowski from Normanton was the first patient to benefit from this type of minimally invasive robotic surgery to remove his prostate gland.

He said: “I had the procedure, and I was only in hospital for 24 hours. The whole pre-op hospital stay and post-op care was excellent, with the results being 100 percent successful so far.”

Using a robot for this type of surgery is more precise and gives the surgeon greater control, which is better for the patient. Several small incisions are made in the abdomen and then small surgical instruments and a camera attached to robotic arms are inserted by the surgeon.

They then use the robotic arms to take out the patient’s prostate gland, carefully navigating the surrounding muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.

Consultant Urological Surgeon, Mr Mohantha Dooldeniya, who carried out Michael’s surgery using an Intuitive da Vinci surgical robot, said: “I am very pleased with the results so far. Performing this type of minimally invasive operation for prostate cancer has far better results for the patient.

“I’m delighted that we are the first surgical team in Yorkshire to be offering this to patients and look forward to being able to carry out many more procedures in the future.”

Ten patients at the Trust have now benefitted from this surgery and the results have been very good. None of the patients have suffered from any incontinence directly after the procedure, which is a known side effect of traditional robotic prostate surgery.

Michael concluded: “I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Dooldeniya and all the hospital staff for their care and attention. If anyone gets the opportunity to have this procedure they should take it.”