chance of needing blood during robotic prostate removal

I did in fact need blood after mine. I`m pretty slender and the doc told me when they aired me up it likely tore something and i bled a bit more than most. He said he seldomly ever sees that in anyone that has a bit more meat on them than i do. I did not give any before hand.

No, I didn't need to give any blood before hand. I had read that before also but I believe it is more for open surgery that say a DaVinci. That is one of the big advantages of Da Vinci, less blood loss and the surgeon can see what he is doing so much better than working in a bloody field.

Good luck

Bill from Florida

Big Mac and Reltnie

   Thank you for the responses, must be a good feeling to be on the other side.

jym62,

I would discuss this with your surgeon. Ask him how many of his patients need blood afterwards; discuss whether you should donate a unit or two of your own blood prior to the surgery.

Keep in mind that (1) If you donate your own blood, it will may make you somewhat anemic depending on your blood count at the time of donation. If your donate two units, you are more likely to become anemic prior to surgery. (2) If you donate your blood, it takes your bone marrow two to four weeks to make up the deficit. (3) If you and your doctor feel that there is a reasonable possibility that you will need blood, it is always better to get your own blood than someone else's, not because of getting a disease from the community donated blood, but because of all the unique characteristics of your own blood.

I had an open prostatectomy and chose not to donate my own blood after discussing it with my surgeon. I lost a couple of pints during surgery, but preferred to go into surgery with a full tank. YMMV.

(For purposes of full disclosure, I worked in Blood Banking services for a decade and consider myself more knowledgeable than the general public on this topic, but I am not a doctor.)

Hubby didn't need any. I think the surgery report stated he had lost only 100cc.

Since they didn't know the extent of spread if any, I chose not to donate my own blood, on the chance that there may have been a few PCa cells floating around at the time of surgery. Why take a re-introduction risk?

As for robotic vs open, set any vanity aside: if you are nicked even the slightest the surgeon will have a "red out" in his viewer.....and he's blind. Then they cut you open to stop the bleeding and save your life, plan B for the PCa is in the future.

Yup, as most others have said, there is relatively very little blood loss during a da Vinci prostatectomy as compared to the open procedure. That is one of the benefits of using the precision of the robot, having an inflated (with the gas they pump in) surgical field with a well lit 3-D color image that is magnified 10-15x.

In the vast majority of cases with the robot, no blood is really needed. I never heard a hint of needing to store any in advance before my surgery. In reading my surgeon's written report, the surgery was, as they term it, "uneventful."

Thankfully, this seems to be the same for the great majority of cases.

Chuck

Resident of Highland, Indiana just outside of Chicago, IL.
July 2011 local PSA lab reading 6.41 (from 4.1 in 2009). Mayo Clinic PSA Sept. 2011 was 5.7.
Local urologist DRE revealed significant BPH, but no lumps.
PCa Dx Aug. 2011 at age of 61.
Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma in 3 of 20 cores (one 5%, two 20%). T2C.
Gleason score 3+3=6.
CT of abdomen, bone scan both negative.
DaVinci prostatectomy 11/1/11 at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), nerve sparing, age 62.
My surgeon was Dr. Matthew Tollefson, who I highly recommend.
Final pathology shows tumor confined to prostate.
5 lymph nodes, seminal vesicles, extraprostatic soft tissue all negative.
1.0 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm mass involving right posterior inferior,
right posterior apex & left mid posterior prostate.
Right posterior apex margin involved by tumor over a 0.2 cm length, doctor says this is insignificant.
Prostate 98.3 grams, tumor 2 grams. Prostate size 5.0 x 4.7 x 4.5 cm.
Abdominal drain removed the morning after surgery.
Catheter out in 7 days. No incontinence, occasional minor dripping.
Post-op exams 2/13/12, 9/10/12, PSA <0.1. PSA tests now annual.
Semi-firm erections now happening 14 months post-op & VERY slowly getting a bit stronger.