DMC Sinai-Grace Pioneering Unique Robotic Bladder Surgery

The robotic surgery team at DMC Sinai Grace Hospital is using a unique and less invasive procedure to treat bladder cancer. The details of the treatment are outlined in a manuscript published in the most recent edition of the journal, Colorectal Disease.

The less invasive robotic procedure involves surgeons creating a new bladder using parts of the colon for bladder cancer patients. The procedure requires a small number of incisions just a few millimeters in length. The small incisions create a passageway for special surgical instruments and a fiber-optic instrument called a laparoscope, which allows surgeons to see the surgical area on the screen.

During this procedure, surgeons cut away the cancerous bladder and remove it through the anus, which eliminates the need for large incision. Using the robotic instruments, surgeons then create a new bladder using a portion of the colon known as the sigmoid.

“Our goal is provide patients with a less invasive surgical option that involves less trauma and pain, minimal scarring, faster recovery and shorter hospital stays,” says Dr. Shaheen Alanee, a board certified urologic surgeon on staff at DMC Sinai Grace Hospital. The surgery requires a combined team approach involving two physicians. At Sinai-Grace, Dr. Alanee, and Dr. AbuBaker Ali, a board certified surgeon who specializes in colorectal surgery, work together to perform the procedure.

Dr. Alanee says to date one patient has been treated using this less invasive technique. He says the results of that treatment are promising.