HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

New procedure during robotic surgery to help bladder control

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/22/2012 11:09 PM (GMT 0)
It has been a while since I have posted however I wanted to share my brother in laws experience with robotic surgery.

My brother in law found out he had prostate cancer about 4 months back. After seeing multiple urologist in Pascagoula, ms and mobile, Al my wife and I finally convinced him to go see Dr. Scott Tully at the urology centers of Alabama in birmingham. I had used Dr. Tully four years ago this coming march. I will never regret making the 4 1/2 hour drive. Dr. Tully has performed well over 2000 di vinca robotic surgery.

They also do a lot of research at the urology centers of Alabama. They are using a couple of stitches now that now that helps with incontinence. My brother in law had his catheter removed last Wednesday and has not had any leakage at all. I am not sure where the stitches are place but it appears to be very successful.

He was at my house yesterday and is not even wearing a pad.
Posted 1/22/2012 11:22 PM (GMT 0)
I wanted to follow up with some more information. According to my brother in law the doctors at urology centers of Alabama developed this procedure and have been doing this procedure on selective patients and soon this procedure will be a new standard procedure during robotic surgery.
Posted 1/22/2012 11:29 PM (GMT 0)
Bama:
thanks for sharing - it is always encouraging when "new advances" can be as simple as (or complicated as) a different type of stitch -
-glad to hear of your brother-in-law's dryness - here's to a lifetime of zero's down the road for him as well
(and extend the best wishes for zero's and/or good numbers to you as well.
hugs,
Bronson
Posted 1/22/2012 11:33 PM (GMT 0)
My URO and RALP surgeon, Dr John Willbanks is a partner in the Urology Centers of Alabama and I was 100% dry at 3 weeks post surgery, I believe he used the new technique that Dr Tully developed.  I have a friend in Prattville AL who had his RALP by Dr Tully last November an has been 100% dry since his catheter was removed. Dr Willbanks told me he was using some new technique for improving incontinence with Davinci surgery.
Posted 1/23/2012 12:22 AM (GMT 0)
Wish they were doing this all over, been 3 months and still leak!!
Posted 1/23/2012 12:27 AM (GMT 0)
Me too steve. After 4 years I still have to be careful when I pick something up or sneeze. I don't ever do kegels anymore and that my be part of the problem.
Posted 1/23/2012 12:31 AM (GMT 0)
This topic was discussed last year at one the the support group meetings (man to man or us too, I forget which) that is held at Urology Centers of Alabama every month. My understanding was that they place a sling after the prostate is removed during the same surgical session but with a different surgeon. At that time it was part of a study and not every patient is selected ( I asked). I don't know if the study has been expanded but there was discussion of that happening. In any case, when I have surgery I hope this is available to me, oh and Tully will be performing my surgery. But I am still in no hurry ....

be well...
Posted 1/23/2012 6:50 AM (GMT 0)
sounds like a very simple way to improve things.
My surgeon in Amsterdam was invovled in a trial of a new technique to help continence too. This technique invovled fitting a sort of sling during the RALP, but the odd aspect was that the sling would be made out of a bit of the patient's vas deferens and stitching it in place so as to put a small kink in the urethra, if I remember correctly.
(I declined to take part, as at the time it seemed to be adding just another complication to the decision-making process, it was also a double blind so you would not find out if you'd had the procedure or not until long aftyer surgery once the trial was completed.)
I have yet to see/hear anything about results outcomes of the trial, so I'm guessing it is still running.

Alf
Posted 1/23/2012 11:48 AM (GMT 0)
I think Dr Stricker, Paul's surgeon, also mentioned a stitch that he was using to help his continence stats. I know No one believed it here at the time and maybe no one still does but Dr Stricker publishes his no pad continence rate at 12 months to be 98%. This is very very good and Dr Stricker would be one of Australia's best prostate cancer urologist. His stats are captured by a very respected research institute separate to Dr Stricker. I know many here have thought in the past that his stats were too good to be true but my thought on this is that he has too much to loose by fudging these stats and I also firmly believe that a good surgeon is an artist.
Posted 1/23/2012 3:54 PM (GMT 0)
LOL Now you tell me. I doubt I would have traveled that far to be continent qucker but I would have if I knew I was going to have this much troubel. With that said, it is still too early for me to tell.
Posted 1/23/2012 9:23 PM (GMT 0)

I had a couple of stitches for continence not sure where they were put but doc said it has added 4 minutes to his op time, and patients have had much improved continence rates, he said procedure was reported at a major urological conference in early 2010 early 2009 ?, so don't know who started doing it first but my doc didn't ask me did I want it he said he now does it on all his patients and has seen vast improvements.

So if you are comming up for surgery ask your Uro about it the data is out there.

  

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply