Miriam offering laparoscopic robotic-assisted surgery for bladder cancer

PROVIDENCE – The Miriam Hospital’s Minimally Invasive Urology Institute began offering a completely laparoscopic surgery to appropriate patients with bladder cancer in spring 2016, the hospital announced recently.

The procedure, a robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy with intra-corporeal urinary diversion, can remove the bladder, pelvic lymph nodes and prostate in men, and the bladder, uterus and Fallopian tubes in women. The surgery also removes a piece of bowel to create an alternative pathway to discharge urine, in the bladder’s absence. The entire surgery is performed wholly laparoscopically, rather than with traditional open surgery.

Previously, the surgery was performed at The Miriam Hospital with a seven- to 10-centimeter incision at the navel, and the urinary diversion was created through this incision, outside the body. In addition to featuring smaller incisions, the minimally invasive approach offers improved patient outcomes, including a lower complication rate and shorter hospital stay, according to the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium, the hospital reported.

Dr. Dragan Golijanin, director of genitourinary oncology at The Miriam and Rhode Island hospitals and co-director of the MIUI, is among the first 11 urologists nationwide and the only physician in New England to have successfully performed a robotic cystectomy with intra-corporeal urinary diversion. The first hospital in Southern New England to perform any robotic-assisted procedure, The Miriam reported that it has completed more than 2,000 urologic robotic-assisted surgeries since 2006.

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“In being able to perform this difficult surgery laparoscopically from beginning to end, we are able to remain on the leading edge of bladder cancer treatments by offering patients the latest, most innovative care available. The result is improved outcomes for our patients. This further demonstrates our commitment to advanced urologic treatments,” Golijanin said in a statement.

Cancer of the urinary bladder is the fifth most common cancer in Rhode Island, and the sixth most common in the United States, said The Miriam. Bladder cancer also has the highest recurrence rate of any form of cancer. The most common symptom is blood in the urine; a patient who experiences this should contact his or her physician immediately. Other symptoms include frequency, urgency or pain while urinating.

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