Hybrid Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery Transvaginal Nephrectomy in a Low-Resource Setting.

Introduction: Hybrid natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES(®); American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy [Oak Brook, IL] and Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons [Los Angeles, CA]) reduces the invasiveness of conventional laparoscopic surgery and overcomes the limitation of pure NOTES, especially in the absence of angulated instruments.

Patients And Methods: The patients were 66-, 69-, and 32-year-old women with complaints of recurrent flank pain and urinary tract infection due to an obstructed nonfunctioning kidney. Materials used were standard laparoscopic instruments and a 30° 10-mm high-definition laparoscope.

Palpation device for the identification of kidney and bladder cancer: a pilot study.

Purpose: To determine the ability of a novel palpation device to differentiate between benign and malignant tissues of the kidney and bladder by measuring tissue elasticity.

Materials And Methods: A novel palpation device was developed, mainly composed of a micromotor, a linear position sensor, a force transducer, and a hemisphere tip and cylindrical body probe. Motion calibration as well as performance validation was done.

Robotic palpation-based mechanical property mapping for diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to estimate the mechanical properties (elasticity) of normal and cancer prostate tissues and to develop a tissue elasticity map for the diagnosis and localization of prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: A total of 735 sites from 35 radical prostatectomy specimens were used in the experiments using a robotic palpation system, and the elasticities of the specimens were estimated by a tissue characterization algorithm. The estimated elasticities from 21 regions were separated into normal and cancer tissues using the pathological information, and a tissue elasticity map was developed using numerical functions and a nonlinear surface-fitting method.

Robot-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site surgery: partial nephrectomy for renal malignancy.

Objectives: To describe our experience with robot-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) to perform partial nephrectomy and evaluate a hybrid homemade port system as an effective access technique.

Methods: From December 2008 to September 2009, robot-assisted LESS to perform partial nephrectomy through a hybrid homemade port was performed to treat 14 cases of renal cell carcinoma. The data, including patient characteristics, operative records, complications, and pathologic results, were analyzed.

Robotics applied in laparoscopic kidney surgery: the Yonsei University experience of 127 cases.

Objective: We report our experience on 127 kidney surgeries with the da Vinci surgical system and show the feasibility of a robotics application in a variety of kidney surgeries by both a laparoscopically-trained and a laparoscopically-naïve surgeon.

Methods: Clinical data of patients who underwent kidney surgery with the da Vinci surgical system from September 2006 to April 2009 were reviewed. Data acquired from medical records included patient demographics, operative time, estimated blood loss (EBL), incidence of intraoperative complication, duration of hospital stay, blood transfusion rate, oncological outcomes, and follow-up results.

Double primary tumor of the stomach and the prostate managed robotically simultaneously.

The occurrence of multiple primary tumors is rare. Here we present a case of a 65-year-old male with a longstanding cardiac condition who presented with synchronous adenocarinoma of the stomach and prostate. Both cancers were managed simultaneously using robot-assisted laparoscopy techniques.

Initial experience with 50 laparoendoscopic single site surgeries using a homemade, single port device at a single center.

Purpose: We report our technique of and initial experience with 50 patients who underwent laparoendoscopic single site surgery using a homemade single port device at a single institution.

Materials And Methods: Between December 2008 and August 2009 we performed 50 laparoendoscopic single site surgeries using the Alexis wound retractor, which was inserted at the umbilical incision. A homemade single port device was made by fixing a size 7 1/2 surgical glove to the retractor outer ring and securing the glove fingers to the end of 3 or 4 trocars with a tie and a rubber band.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy after previous cancer surgery.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy has become a frequently used alternative treatment option in the management of prostate cancer. As more operations are performed, more challenging patient conditions are encountered, for example those with previous abdominal cancer surgery. We present our experience of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) in patients with previous cancer surgery.

Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy versus robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

Purpose: Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is an alternative treatment modality for small-sized renal tumors. Robot-assisted LPN (RLPN) has also been performed with an advantage in repairing the defect after a resection of the tumor. We compared the perioperative data of patients treated with LPN with patients who underwent RLPN.