Robot-Assisted Surgery Appears Useful For Removal Of Some Head And Neck Tumors

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2009) — Robot-assisted surgery appears feasible for treatment of selected head and neck cancers, according to a new article.

"Since the introduction of the surgical robot in 1999, robot-assisted cardiac, gynecologic and urologic procedures have become widely accepted throughout the country," the authors write as background information in the article. In these specialties, robotic procedures have been associated with less blood loss, fewer complications, shorter surgery durations and fewer days in the hospital or in intensive care compared with traditional open procedures. "Robotic surgery in the head and neck offers the possibility of limited surgical morbidity [illness], reduced hospital stay and improved lesion visualization over open approaches and traditional transoral [through the mouth] techniques."

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