Dr Ian Smith - Urological Surgeon
BSc (Med) MBBS FRACS (Urol)
Robotic Surgery
Dr Ian Smith offers Robotic Surgery to the New England area. He is credentialed to operate at Macquarie University Hospital and perform most of his major cases at this site.
A Radical Prostatectomy performed with robotic assistance, using the da Vinci XI Intuitive Surgical system is the most advanced technological surgery available today. The benefits of having a Prostatectomy using robotic assistance are;
The robot allows for minimally invasive surgical techniques, resulting in faster recovery times and shorter hospital stays.
The magnification and vision the da Vinci robot provides the surgeon is far superior to any other surgical approach.
The wrist like manipulation of the instruments via the key hole approach, allow for greater dexterity and a wider range of movement than traditional laparoscopic instruments.
This technology allows the surgeon to have greater consistency in the results of a Prostatectomy.
Faster return of erectile function and lower rates of urinary incontinence 12 months post procedure.
Fewer days with cauterization
Less blood loss with this minimally invasive technique
Lower risk of wound infection or procedure complications
How is a Prostatectomy Performed with Robotic Assistance:
The surgery itself will take approximately 3 - 4 hours and you can expect to have 6 small incisions. Dr Smith will be sitting at the Robotic Console located next to the patient. A surgical assistant will be at the patients bedside, inserting and changing the robotic instruments as requested by Dr Smith. There is a dissection phase where Dr Smith will remove your prostate and the cancer involved. He will then reconstruct the anatomy, placing a catheter in situ to support this reconstruction. During the procedure Dr Smith will decide to remove the lymph nodes or not, depending on the pathology results taken while operating.