Outcomes - Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy

Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy (prostate removal)
Outcomes are the results of surgery.  There are a number of things that are considered when looking at how successful a particular operation has been.  These include how quickly you recover, the likelihood of curing the cancer and the chance of long-term side effects.
Since the Center for Robotic Surgery at RPCI opened in 2004, almost 100% of radical prostate operations have been done robotically. RPCI’s outcomes data for robot-assisted prostatectomy, including data on cancer control and adverse effects, are benchmarked against national averages for both robot-assisted and open radical prostatectomy.

What are Surgical Margins?
After the prostate is removed, pathologists look at the edges (margins) of the tissue to see if there are cancer cells there. If there is cancer in these margins (positive margins), it may mean that not all of the cancer was removed during surgery.