When Facing Prostate Surgery Experience Really Is Important

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With the majority of things in life it is true to say that the more practiced and experienced you are the better your performance will be and this is most certainly true with prostate cancer surgery.

One of the biggest problems with cancer is that, despite the best efforts of your surgeon, it has a nasty habit of recurring in a number of cases. In the case of prostate cancer following the removal of the prostate through radical prostatectomy recent studies have revealed that, while the likelihood of a recurrence are around 18 percent where surgery is carried out by a relatively inexperienced surgeon, this figure falls to less than 11 percent in more experience hands. So just what do we mean by 'experienced hands'?

A recent study looked at nearly 8,000 prostate cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomy in the United States between 1987 and 2003 involving no fewer than 72 surgeons from 4 major academic cancer centers around the country.

Interestingly enough the study showed that there is a very steep learning curve when it comes to performing prostate surgery and that it takes considerable practice to master this particular surgical technique. Indeed, the study showed that it was not until surgeons had carried out a minimum of 250 operations that a marked improvement in recurrence rates was seen.

So just what can we learn from this study if we are faced with the prospect of having to undergo prostate surgery?

First and foremost it is extremely important that patients select a surgeon who frequently performs this type of surgery. Indeed, it might well be advisable to select a surgeon who specializes exclusively in prostate surgery, or whose work revolves largely around such surgery. In many general hospital settings surgeons will carry out such surgery very infrequently, perhaps as rarely as just one or twice a year, and this is not sufficient to give them the expertise necessary to provide you with the best possible change of a low recurrence rate.

In the light of this therefore your first choice should without doubt be a specialist cancer treatment center and of a surgeon whose work involves exclusively, or at least very largely, prostate surgery.

The study also demonstrated however that there is a marked improvement in recurrence rates not only for specialist cancer centers, but also for teaching facilities. This is because, within the academic environment, a good deal of emphasis is placed on supporting mechanisms to assess the outcome of procedures as well as to provide feedback in an effort to create an environment in which continuous improvement is seen. This tends not always to be the case in non-academic facilities. Also, academic centers tend to attract people who are especially interested not simply in the outcome of their work but in both correcting their errors and improving their technique.

So, should you find yourself in the position of needing prostate surgery then you would be well advised to choose to have surgery with an experienced and practiced surgeon who works in a specialist cancer center within a major teaching facility.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

ProstateProblemCenter.com provides information on prostate cancer symptoms and all aspects of prostate cancer including the therapeutic use of prostate massage

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