18 December 2013
A PROSTATE cancer patients says he feels fantastic after becoming the first person to benefit from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s new £1.8mn Da Vinci robot helper.
Trevor Risley, 63, of Rotherham, is full of praise for the pioneering surgery, which has restored his bladder function, enabled him to drive three days post-surgery and seen him return to football training within six weeks. He was discharged from hospital the day after his surgery.
The operation was carried out by Mr David Yates, a consultant urologist specially trained in robotic surgery, and took place on 7 October 2013.
Robotic surgery enables surgeons to perform complex and delicate operations leading to improved surgical outcomes, shorter recovery times and reduced hospital stays using a robotic console.
This console enables the surgeon to control a camera ten times more accurate than the human eye and specially designed 'wristed' instruments attached to the robotic arms using joysticks and foot pedals. From here, the surgeon can perform complex surgery through small incisions with precision, as the machine adjusts itself to compensate for the natural tremor in the human hand. Patients having the surgery are likely to be back at work in two to four weeks.
Trevor Risley, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer two weeks prior to the operation, said: "I felt really down two or three weeks before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but I feel so much better in myself now. I was walking the day after the operation, and my levels of prostate-specific antigens are the lowest they have been.
"The operation was first-class and I can honestly say I felt no pain. I’ve got a two-inch scar on the middle of my tummy and that's it – everything else has healed up. I'm refereeing now, but I’m so grateful to still be here. Nobody could tell me not to recommend this surgery. I can't thank the surgeons enough."
To date over 20 radical prostatectomies, where the prostate gland is totally removed to treat prostate cancer, have been performed at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust using the da Vinci robot, with plans under way for surgeons to use the equipment for other surgical specialities, such as gynaecology, from spring next year.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Blake, Research and Innovation Communications Officer
Tel: 0114 226 5033
Email: claudia.blake@sth.nhs.uk
