Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Debunking the debunking

I really don't want to write more about surgical robots, but you folks out there keep sending good material.  Here's an article by a surgeon on ThirdAge.com "debunking the myths about robotic surgery."

Let's look some assertions:

The robotics technology is expensive and the whole surgical team has to be trained, which can add to the cost. But there’s also a tremendous savings compared with traditional surgery because the patient is out of the hospital more quickly and there are fewer complications.

Many times, the robotics-assisted procedures can be done much more quickly, so there’s less risk simply because the duration of the procedure is shorter. You also have the smaller incisions, and less bleeding, factors that reduce the risks.

This kind of fast and loose talk is a discredit to the profession. I wish there were an agreement that we would rely solely on sound research studies instead of this anecdotal tripe.

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