Cancer patients should be offered robotic surgery.
Cancer patients are better off having robotic surgery
A new study has found that patients who need major abdominal operations recover more quickly and spend less time in hospital with a robot-assisted procedure for bladder cancer.
A trial conducted between March 2017 and March 2020 found that robotic surgery - in which doctors guide minimally invasive instruments remotely - reduced the chances of hospital re-admission by 52 per cent and also revealed a 77 per cent reduction in the prevalence of blood clots when compared with patients who had open surgery.
Researchers at University College London and the University of Sheffield said their findings, which have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, explained that their findings challenged the idea that open surgery is the "gold standard" for major surgical operations.
Co-chief investigator John Kelly said the results "indicate a safe surgery with patients benefitting from far fewer complications, early mobilisation and a quicker return to normal life".