A recent Loyola Medicine story found that the robotic-assisted surgery reduced the risk of blood loss and prolonged hospital stays in obese prostate cancer patients. While that study specifically tracked obese men, researchers concluded the results found both surgical options are “feasible and safe” and the “surgeon’s comfort level should dictate which surgical approach is used,” according to the HCB article.

An earlier study published two years ago as part of the RAND report Redirecting Innovation in U.S. Health Care: Options to Decrease Spending and Increase Value, noted that health care systems had been purchasing robotic systems at an increasing rate primarily because of patient demand.

The study, described in an article on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website, found hospitals not using a robot for prostate surgery since 2005 had seen a decrease in cases – down 41.2 percent as of 2014. The doctors writing the report questioned whether promotional and advertising campaigns used by the medical facilities to tout their robots as the gold standards in treatment were pushing patients to demand robotic surgery rather than open surgery.

Yesterday, HCB News reported on findings from Mount Sinai Beth Israel indicating that the majority of patients getting access to robotic surgery are wealthy white males.

Back to HCB News

Medical Devices Homepage