PROSTATECTOMY
ADVANCES IN REMOVING A MAN’S CANCEROUS PROSTATE CONTINUE TO REAP BENEFITS, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
Prostatectomy, the surgical removal of a man’s prostate gland, used to be a messy operation that left many men with erectile dysfunction or urinary incontinence. Patrick Walsh, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins, changed all that with new approaches, beginning 25 years ago.
WALSH: I’ve made 25 major advances in the operation over 25 years. As a matter of fact over the last year I’ve made an innovation which has improved results. Along the way the operation has been performed laparoscopically, and more recently with a robot assisted laparoscopic approach. So today radical prostatectomy remains one of the most common forms of treatment for prostate cancer whereas 25 years ago, only 7% of men with localized prostate cancer underwent surgery. :29
Now many men who must have their prostate gland removed can undergo surgery with a dramatically reduced risk of unwanted side effects. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
