ROBOTIC surgery used to treat prostate cancer at Lister Hospital has been a success for a WGC man. Andrew Houghton was one of the first to have his surgery using the da Vinci surgical system, which has recently been installed at the Stevenage hospital. Co

ROBOTIC surgery used to treat prostate cancer at Lister Hospital has been a success for a WGC man.

Andrew Houghton was one of the first to have his surgery using the da Vinci surgical system, which has recently been installed at the Stevenage hospital.

Commenting on his experience, he said: "When I learned I had a positive diagnosis for prostate cancer, it was clear radical surgery could offer me a good chance of a complete cure.

"I was soon to learn how fortunate I was to be treated at the Lister.

"The dramatic improvement in recovery time following my surgery compared to the conventional operation experienced by most people in my position, together with the high level of surgical precision involved that minimised subsequent complications, made my operation as successful as I could possibly hope.

"In fact, I was pretty much back to normal within the first four weeks following my operation."

The state-of-the-art surgical system, installed in December, is an advanced robot that allows surgeons to control sophisticated laparoscopic - known more commonly as keyhole surgery - instruments, while sitting at a special console away from the patient's side.

It offers a number of advantages over conventional laparoscopic surgery, such as 3-D vision and special wristed instruments.

It also enables doctors to perform far more accurate and safer operations than is possible with conventional surgery, with patients making a faster recovery - often within 24 hours - and having fewer side effects that can affect their quality of life subsequently.

The 56-year-old, who was discharged within 72 hours and had a "positive" follow-up consultation, added: "There is no doubt in my mind that the availability of robot-assisted urological surgery at the Lister has resulted in significant benefits to me personally.

"It has helped considerably in terms of preserving my quality of life, whilst at the same time improving my longer term prognosis as I seek to recover fully from my cancer."

The robotics complex was officially opened on Wednesday at the Lister Hospital in front of VIP guests.