Robotics: Non-Prostrate Robotics

UPJ Obstruction and Robotic Pyeloplasty

Urine normally drains from the kidney into a tube that carries the urine down to the bladder called the ureter. This area of drainage is referred to as the ureteropelvic junction (UPJ). People can be born with a blockage that progresses later in life or develop a blockage from stones or scar tissue. Eventually this condition can lead to loss of a kidney.

There are many treatments for UPJ Obstruction. The treatments consist of dilating the UPJ, cutting the UPJ with lasers or cautery instruments, or repairing it surgically. The success rates vary from 25% to 95% depending on the form of therapy, with surgical reconstruction giving the best cure rates.

Robotic Pyeloplasty gives comparable results to the open version and is performed through 4 incisions that are only 1/2 inch or less. The high resolution magnification allows an extremely precise repair.

Robotic Partial Nephrectomy

Small solid renal masses less than 4 cm can often be treated by removing only a small part of the kidney.  Many studies have proven that the cure rates with a partial nephrectomy are similar to removing the whole kidney.  Traditionally these operations were performed through a large incision. 

Laparoscopy has been used to treat some of these masses when the location is on the outer part of the kidney.  This operation involves temporarily stopping the blood supply to the kidney, removing the tumor, and suturing the kidney after the tumor is removed.  It is feasible to perform these operations with the laparoscope, but it must be done quickly since the time the blood supply is kept from the kidney must be minimized.

Robotic Partial Nephrectomy provides all the advantages of the minimally invasive procedure with improved accuracy in excising the tumor and provides a shorter time that the kidney is not receiving blood.