News

Southlake performs its first laparoscopic prostatectomy

Newmarket, Ontario May 12, 2006 - On May 12, Southlake Regional Health Centre joined the handful of Canadian Hospitals that offer laparoscopic prostatectomy, the removal of the entire prostate gland and some of its surrounding tissue through laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, surgery.

“With the opening of our Regional Cancer Centre scheduled for 2008 we want to be able to offer our patients the best possible treatment options,” commented Dr. John Preiner, the urologist who performed the surgery with the assistance of McMaster University’s Dr. Matsumoto.

Performed on men who suffer from prostate cancer, a radical prostatectomy can be done by open or laparoscopic surgery. By inserting a lit viewing instrument, or laparoscope, physicians are able to examine and remove the prostate without the large lower abdominal incision that results from conventional surgery.

As a relatively new technique that is not yet widely available, Dr. Preiner believes the benefits of this method are evident from the patient’s experience.

“Following the laparoscopic removal of the prostate, patients have less pain, are typically discharged home after one night in hospital and are able to return to work and activity faster than they do if they are recovering from a larger incision.”

According to the Canadian Cancer Society’s 2006 statistics, prostate cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed among Ontario men. The radical prostatectomy is a mainstay treatment that is most often used if testing indicates that the cancer is localized, or confined to the prostate, and in these cases is generally effective.

Southlake’s urologists, which also includes, Dr. Morrie Liquornik and Dr. Jerome Green, perform approximately 70 radical prostatectomies each year.  This number will likely increase now that Southlake has become the only hospital in York Region offering laparoscopic surgery for prostate cancer.