Prostate cancer: For most patients, this diagnosis is a shock. If surgery is necessary, many also fear side effects such as impotence problems or incontinence. Thanks to a state-of-the-art surgical robot in Freiburg, prostate cancer can now be treated minimally invasively and very gently.

Since the beginning of 2019, the latest Da Vinci surgical robot of its kind is in use in the Department of Urology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. The first patients have already successfully undergone surgery. The Department of Urology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg is thus the first clinic in the area to employ this particularly gentle surgical method in the treatment of prostate cancer.

"We are pleased to be able to offer this minimally invasive procedure in Freiburg. It not only reduces the risk of high blood loss during surgery, but experience also shows that patients recover faster from the procedure," says Prof. Dr. Christian Gratzke, who since October 2018 has been Medical Director of the Department of Urology at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg.

The Da Vinci surgical system features a controllable video system that delivers high-resolution 3D images, magnified up to 10 times. In addition, it has several finely mobile arms, allowing the surgeon to make extremely precise incisions that are barely feasible using the human hand. The camera and operating arms are controlled by the surgeon on a specially designed console, by which finger movements are transmitted to the robot arms.