Queen Mary Hospital has introduced a new technique to minimise wounds caused by surgery on prostate cancer patients.

It said the new approach would reduce the surgical trauma and shorten the recovery time for patients who suffered from prostate cancer – the third most common cancer among men in Hong Kong – and needed to have the gland removed.

Using the traditional surgical methods, the removal of a prostate with the help of a robotic arm requires five to six incisions to be made on the patient's lower abdomen, while the new approach needs just a single incision.

Associate consultant Wong Hoi-lung from the hospital's division of urology said on Monday the new method had been introduced in December and used in 10 cases so far.

“For the hospital stay, it's reduced to two days from four days so the patients can discharge early with the faster recovery after their operations.

“Also, we found that the new technology, the new surgery, can reduce operative time.”

Wong said the new technique could help reduce patients’ pain and discomfort, as well as accelerate hospital bed turnover and shorten waiting times for surgery.

He expressed hope that use of the new technique could be expanded to other hospitals in Hong Kong to benefit more patients.



Edited by Tony Sabine