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Article: Robotic surgery eases pain, speeds recovery time
- Article from:
- Charleston Gazette
- Article date:
- August 20, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Charleston Gazette. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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CHICAGO - Inside the operating room, Dr. Arieh Shalhav isn't
likely to ask for a scalpel or forceps.
But he might ask an assistant to clean his camera.
During surgery, Shalhav sits several feet from the patient,
manipulating robotic instrument controls and a miniaturized optics
system as he works to remove a cancerous prostrate gland.
Robotic surgery - a skill Shalhav is learning - is still a rarity,
but it's poised to become more popular as patients push doctors to
adopt technology that can make surgery less stressful. While robotic
equipment is expensive, at about $1.2 million a station, it does
reduce a patient's pain and recovery time, doctors said.