Robotic Cancer Surgery

Offering you the best care

Aurora BayCare is at the forefront of robotic-assisted surgery for cancer treatment. As part of our leading approach to cancer care, Aurora BayCare offers minimally invasive robotic surgery as an alternative to traditional surgery.

Patients who’ve had robotic surgery report high satisfaction due to the following benefits:

  • Smaller incisions and less scarring
  • Faster recovery
  • Shorter hospital stays
  • Less pain
  • Less blood loss
  • Fewer complications

With the da Vinci® robotic system, your surgeon operates through small incisions, instead of a large open incision. Robotic surgery is similar to laparoscopic surgery, except it provides greater visualization of the treatment area with greater precision and control over the surgical instruments.

For patients with tumors and other potentially-cancerous lesions, this means more precise removal of the cancerous tissue while sparing more of the surrounding blood vessels, tissues and nerves.  And because patients recover from surgery sooner, they may be able to move on to additional treatments and get back to normal daily life sooner too!

Better Robotic Technology

Aurora BayCare is the region’s first robotic surgery provider to use Firefly™ fluorescence imaging. Using a special video camera and dye, the Firefly™ system essentially “lights up” blood vessels around tumors.

The Firefly™ technology uses near-infrared imaging to detect an injected tracer dye in the blood. 

Robotic Benefits for Cancer Surgery

Robotic surgery may be used to treat a variety of cancers, including prostate, kidney, colon, pancreas, rectum, cervical and uterine cancer.  The following list includes the robotic-assisted cancer surgeries performed at Aurora BayCare and the potential benefits of robotic-assisted surgery:

  • Adrenal Gland Cancer – reduces risk of damage to nearby organs in this crowded region of the body
  • Bladder Cancer – faster return to normal diet and normal bowel function
  • Cervical Cancer – robotic surgery may help preserve fertility
  • Colon and Rectal Cancers – faster return to normal diet and normal bowel function
  • Gynecologic Cancer – robotic surgery may help preserve fertility
  • Kidney Cancer – robotic technology enables a better chance of preserving part of the kidney for certain patients (kidney-sparing surgery)
  • Ovarian Cancer – robotic surgery may help preserve fertility, in some cases
  • Pancreatic Cancer – faster return to normal diet and normal bowel function
  • Prostate Cancer – faster return to sexual function and urinary continence
  • Spleen Disease– reduces risk of damage to nearby organs in this crowded region of the body
  • Uterine Cancer – robotic surgery makes it easier to remove fibroids and cancerous lesions while leaving the uterus in place