Medical societies push standards for robotic surgery

Doctors are opting for Intuitive Surgical's popular da Vinci Surgical System over conventional surgery, especially for removing the prostate gland, because it is less invasive and allows for greater precision. There were some 80,000 robotic prostatectomy procedures in the United States last year.

The device's robotic arms are equipped with tiny instruments and a camera. The instruments, inserted through small incisions, do the actual prodding and cutting with the surgeon operating the controls while viewing the procedure via a magnified three-dimensional screen.

The rate of failure for such surgeries is comparable to that of traditional surgeries but patients are more at risk if inexperienced surgeons use the robots.

"The more you do, the better you're going to get. The question is at what point are you doing safe surgery," said , said Dr. Kevin Zorn, chief of urology at Weiss Memorial Hospital at the University of Chicago.

Zorn was lead author of an article in the September issue of the Journal of Urology that proposed instituting training standards for surgeons using the equipment. Currently, there is no credentialing system to evaluate a surgeon's competency and surgeons cannot practice on simulators before taking on live patients. Zorn believes such machines ought to exist; Kazinform cites China Daily.

See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version