Robotic Surgery Research at Ohio State’s Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery
The Ohio State University is a national leader in robotic surgery. In addition to clinical excellence, Ohio State’s Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery is advancing the future of robotic surgery by researching ways to improve current techniques and developing new robotic procedures.
As a major academic center, our focus is not only on providing the latest in medical advances to our patients, but also in using our expertise to create the best in care for tomorrow. This translates directly into a higher level of care for robotic surgery patients treated at OSU, as they will be able to benefit from our advances in robotic surgery before anyone else.
Examples of current Robotic Surgery research projects at OSU:
Urology
- Ohio State’s Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery continually tracks and analyzes the pre-surgical, peri-operative and postoperative outcomes data of the hundreds of patients who undergo robotic radical prostatectomy at OSU each year. More than 600 data points are collected for every patient who participates in this clinical trial, under lead investigator Dr. Ronney Abaza. This effort will provide important information in our quest to improve patient care, find a prostate cancer cure and improve quality of life, as well as provide accurate data to educate patients with prostate cancer. Unlike most institutions offering robotic surgery, our dedication to cancer care makes it our mission to ensure that our patients are receiving the best in robotic cancer surgery, and our expertise in research allows us to confirm this by continuously reviewing our robotic surgery results.
- For patients with high-risk prostate cancer, including high PSA, Gleason Score or high-volume tumors, there is no better place to be treated than Ohio State’s Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery. As a regional referral center and major academic center, patients with high-risk cancers are commonly referred to OSU for treatment where they can benefit from expert surgeons who specialize in treating more complex cancers and from clinical trials offering treatments not yet available elsewhere. OSU’s multispecialty prostate cancer team is currently participating in a national phase III “Study of Neo-Adjuvant Docetaxel and Androgen Deprivation Prior to Radical Prostatectomy versus Immediate Radical Prostatectomy in Patients with High-Risk, Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer.” Through this trial, patients with high-risk prostate cancer can benefit from robotic prostatectomy and possibly receive a treatment combination for their disease only available at few academic centers in the country.
Gynecologic Oncology
- Gynecologic Oncologists at OSU recently published their research on “Minimally Invasive Comprehensive Surgical Staging for Endometrial Cancer: Robotics or Laparoscopy” in the prestigious Journal of Gynecologic Oncology. This study represents the largest published experience with robotic surgery for endometrial cancer in the world to date. This research was also presented at The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting by lead investigators Dr. Jeffrey Fowler and Dr. David Cohn.
- Other current clinical trials involving robotic surgery in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology include: “Effect of Steep Trendelenburg Positioning on Intra-ocular pressure during surgery for Endometrial Cancer: Robotics vs. Laparotomy” and “Prospective, double arm, comparative study for the evaluation of post-operative pain, quality of life and determination of molecular inflammatory markers profile in patients undergoing Robotic vs. Open Laparotomy approach for staging endometrial cancer.”
ENT
- As one of only a handful of institutions in the country offering robotic head and neck surgery, the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons at OSU are pioneering research in robotics through a clinical trial entitled, “Pilot Study Assessing Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) for Oral and Laryngopharyngeal Benign and Malignant Lesions Using The da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System."
- Robotic ENT surgeons at OSU published the first such report of “Transoral Robotic Nasopharyngectomy: A Novel Approach for Nasopharyngeal Lesions” in the journal The Laryngoscope.
Cardiothoracic
- In addition to developing techniques for robotic cardiac surgery in the laboratory setting and then bringing the proven techniques to the bedside, Division of Thoracic Surgery surgeons at OSU are also leading development of techniques for thoracic surgery through their study: “Pilot Study Assessing Robotic Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (RATS) Versus Standard Thoracotomy for Malignant Lesions.”
Collaborative Research
- Ohio State’s Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery also collaborates with other departments at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center, taking advantage of advances across the medical sciences, and bringing them to patients having robotic surgery at OSU. One such example is a clinical trial entitled “Imaging of the Prostate Gland using High Field Strength 3T MRI Without an Endorectal Coil.” In collaboration with researchers in the Department of Radiology. This study for men with prostate cancer undergoing robotic surgery may allow better determination of tumor locations in the prostate and facilitate the robotic procedure by creating three-dimensional imaging models of the anatomy.
For more information about cancer trials or to enroll, click here
“We know there are many things we can learn from one another, and we are eager to share our knowledge and expertise across specialties.” – Jeffrey Fowler, M.D., Co-director of Ohio State’s Center for Advanced Robotic Surgery
