Each year approximately 600,000 American women have hysterectomies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This statistic was reported in the New York Times.
Hysterectomy can be recommended for benign fibroid tumors, cancerous tumors, uterine prolapse, chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis, and other causes of long-term abnormal uterine bleeding.
When hysterectomy is done through small incisions using a thin, lighted scope with a camera, it’s a laparoscopic hysterectomy, wrote Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Robotic hysterectomy involves computer-controlled long, thin robot-like "arms" equipped with tiny surgical instruments, said CBS News.
The surgeon sits at a console with a three-dimensional view of the surgical site, and computer technology translates his or her hand movements into precise, scaled movements of the instruments, wrote New York Times.
NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC) wrote that typically five standard quarter-inch incisions are made in the abdomen. Ports are placed in the incisions through which the robot's camera and instrument arms are inserted.
Next, the surgeon detaches the uterus from its surrounding structures, continued NYULMC. If the cervix is to remain, the uterus is detached from the cervix and then removed from the abdomen using a device called a morcellator.
A morcellator enables the surgeon to cut the uterus into small pieces to then be taken out through one of the ports. If the cervix is removed as well, additional cuts are made to detach it. After surgery, the incisions are stitched closed.
According to NYULMC, robotic hysterectomy advantages include less blood loss during surgery, less scarring and post-operative pain, faster recovery, shorter hospital stays, and fewer post-operative complications.
MedPageToday.com reported that robotic hysterectomy increased dramatically from 2007 to 2010. This has happened despite higher cost and similar complication rates compared with laparoscopic hysterectomy, according to a new study.
Researchers at Columbia University analyzed data on more than 260,000 women who had hysterectomies at 441 U.S. hospitals for reasons other than cancer, wrote CBS News.
CBS News said that women who had robotic hysterectomy were slightly less likely to spend more than two days in the hospital, but hospital stays were shorter than that for most women. Also, complications were equally rare among robotic surgery patients and those who had more conventional surgeries.
But researchers did find a big difference in cost. MedPageToday.com said laparoscopic hysterectomy had a median total cost of $6,679, while $8,868 was the median total cost for robotic hysterectomy.
CBS News added that the study doesn't answer whether the robotic method might be better for certain women, and said that more research comparing methods is needed. Still, the study said that doctors and hospitals have a duty to inform patients about costs of different surgical options.
Sources:
"Robotic Hysterectomy | Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library." Johns Hopkins Medicine, based in Baltimore, Maryland. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/gynecology/robotic_hysterectomy_135,12
Bankhead, Charles. "Use of Robots for Hysterectomy Soars, but with Little Benefit." Medical News and Free CME from MedPage Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/hematologyoncology/othercancers/37435
Rabin, Roni Caryn. "Questions About a Robotic Surgery - NYTimes.com." Health and Wellness - Well Blog - NYTimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/questions-about-a-robotic-surgery
"Robotic Hysterectomy (Gynecologic) for Benign Conditions." The Robotic Surgery Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
http://robotic-surgery.med.nyu.edu/for-patients/our-departments/gynecology/procedures/hysterectomy-for-benign-conditions
"Robotic hysterectomies on the rise, says study: But are the costlier surgeries better? - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57570356/robotic-hysterectomies-on-the-rise-says-study-but-are-the-costlier-surgeries-better
Reviewed February 28, 2013
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith