A robot has performed its 415th prostate cancer operation, indicating that robotic surgery will become the standard in healthcare. The National Robotics Centre has conducted over 400 precise prostate cancer removal surgeries in the past four years, according to the University Hospital Centre Zagreb (KBC Zagreb), which is the only facility in Croatia where urological operations are performed using a robotic platform.
The procedure is minimally invasive, resulting in minimal blood loss and no traditional surgical incision. Surgeons operate the robot, which provides great precision in removing the prostate and tumour. The robot allows the urologist to spare important pelvic structures responsible for erections and continence, leading to faster recovery and a return to normal life for the patient.
KBC Zagreb performs up to two robotic radical prostatectomy surgeries per day using the robotic system. Younger doctors, eager to utilize the new technology, are primarily operating the robot. They have documented their experience in numerous scientific publications. The candidates for this surgery are patients with localized prostate cancer. Over time, the boundaries have expanded, allowing for the treatment of larger prostates and more advanced cancers. The benefits of this new technology include excellent visualization, enabling the surgeon to see and spare even the smallest structures, and precise removal of the organ along with the tumour, reports N1.
The National Robotics Center was established at KBC Zagreb four years ago, with the robot costing around 15 million Kuna. Funding for its procurement was secured from EU funds. The director of KBC Zagreb, Ante Ćorušić, credited the establishment of the robotic platform to former Health Minister Milan Kujundžić and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who recognized the need for robotic surgery in the highest-level hospital in Croatia. Ćorušić emphasized that robotic surgery is necessary for the younger generation and predicted it would become the standard in most hospitals in Croatia and Europe.
