Monday, January 09, 2006

Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy with Dr. Gastón

This saturday we had the privilege of inviting Dr. Gastón to operate with us a patient with a localised prostate cancer. Dr. Gastón is well known for having developed the technique of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer and is considered the world leader in this technique. He has operated more than 3000 patients. As an example of his immense experience, he performs two or three laparoscopic radical prostatectomies per day in his hospital in Bordeaux, France.

After picking him up at the airport in Madrid, Dr. Gastón, Dr. Ignacio Castillón and I went to our Hospital USP San José, where we performed the operation that was uneventful. We were deeply impressed by the perfect technique and the anatomic knowledge of Dr. Gastón, who needed two hours to complete the operation with a minimal blood loss (less than 30 cc of blood). The patient was discharged on monday morning.

Dr. Gastón mentioned that this technique allows obtaining a high quality urinary continence postoperatively and that the chances of preserving sexual function is very high, specially in younger patients.
Our institution, the Institute of Advanced Urological Surgery, has reached an agreement with Dr. Gastón to bring him over to Madrid to operate our patients so they can have access to a world leader in prostate cancer surgery without having to leave their country.

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