Robot in the OR
The da Vinci robot can shorten surgical recovery times.












Nguyen says the system saves his hospital money because patients can go home sooner than they do after conventional open surgeries. However, the benefits of operating with the robot are less clear in procedures, such as prostatectomy, that are routinely performed with traditional laparoscopic tools already. Nguyen, a strong advocate for robotic surgery, would like to see the technology advance faster and become less costly. “The system is very expensive because only one company makes it now,” he says. “We need more competition to drive down the price.”
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