University Hospital offers advanced prostate cancer treatment promising shorter recovery times

When it comes to surgical incisions, smaller is better. University Hospital, which is New Jersey’s academic medical center and the principal teaching hospital for Rutger’s New Jersey Medical School, recently performed the first single-port robotic radical prostatectomy and single-port robotic partial nephrectomy.

An extension of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, this advancement in prostate cancer care enables surgical instruments to be inserted through a single, 2-inch incision. This means faster recovery and reduced surgical pain, as well as better cosmetic results, reduced blood loss during surgery and shorter hospital stays, according to University Hospital.

Evan Kovac, M.D., a member of the Department of Surgery, Division of Urology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, performed the first of these surgeries.

“With this single-port robotic surgery technique, we are working to get patients home the same day, allowing patients to recover at home and reduce the stress on the health care system,” Kovac said.

The new technique is now available to patients for the treatment of urological cancers, including prostate and kidney cancer.