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Video: Surgeons and
patients talk about the new surgical robot (WARNING: video contains
images of surgical operations).

by Adam Williams

awilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Kent & Canterbury Hospital has
become the first in the south east to use a revolution surgical
robot for treating prostate cancer.

The da Vinci Prostatectomy robot
has already treated a dozen patients after surgeons trained for
more than a year in how to use it.

Patients can now be admitted to
hospital on the day of their operation and be discharged the next
day thanks to the less invasive and more precise procedure.

Consultant urological surgeon Mr
Ben Eddy has been using the new gadget after studying its use in
Adelaide, Australia.

He said: “It’s a major advance in
treating men with prostate cancer, we’re proud to be able to offer
this service for our patients across the county.

“The robot revolutionises the
treatment and we’re now able to do things the surgeon’s hand can’t
possibly do.

“The surgeon doesn’t touch the
patient at all during the operation and is detached from them.”

The robot’s ten different
instruments are inserted through tiny keyholes in the patient’s
abdomen. Using a high-definition camera with a magnified view, the
surgeon sits at a console controlling the instruments’ precise
movements.

Mr Eddy added: “It means patients
recover a lot quicker, they can go home the day after and return to
work with fewer complications.”

Retired teacher Christopher
Teesdale, from Tenterden, was the first patient to be treated by
the da Vinci robot and was overwhelmed by the speed of his
recovery.

He said: “I was thrilled when I was
told I’d be the first patient to undergo the procedure. I’d seen
how it works beforehand by watching a video on the internet of
surgeons in the US.

“I was pleased to hear that the
incisions would be a lot smaller than conventional operations and
the actual time I’d spend in hospital would be just over a day.

“There was very little pain and
discomfort afterwards and less than two weeks later I was back
driving my car, back at work and enjoying life.”

See more pictures of the
robot's unveiling in next week's Kentish Gazette.