What You Need To Know
Urologists at Hackensack continue to lead the way in this field. Today, 20 percent of the nation’s single-port robotic procedures occur at Hackensack. This type of surgery passes all of the robotic surgical system tools through a single, 1-inch incision just below the patient’s belly button. Hackensack urologists have completed more single-port urological cases than any other institution in New Jersey with Mutahar Ahmed, M.D performing more than 1,125 alone - since the hospital first offered this innovative procedure.
Hackensack was among the first three hospitals in the country to get a robotic single-port surgical system in February 2019. The hospital has become a leading training center for the technique, which is used in prostate, kidney and bladder surgery, including the most complex reconstructions.
A study by Hackensack urologists, in partnership with two other institutions, made the cover of the August 2022 issue of the Journal of Urology — the most respected urology academic journal in the U.S. The pioneering study showed the value of single-port robotic surgery to remove the prostate in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), aka enlarged prostates.
Dr. Ahmed, and Urology Department Chair and Director of Robotic Surgery Michael Stifelman, M.D., led Hackensack’s participation in the 91-patient study. The investigators showed that with single-port robotic surgery, even very large prostates could be removed in a pain-free, outpatient procedure with a very low rate of complications and a quick recovery.
John Deputato of Wayne, New Jersey, can vouch for that. His doctor told him his PSA level — a marker for prostate cancer and BPH — had been slowly increasing. Coupled with a family history of prostate cancer, John’s PSA level was a cause for concern. Dr. Ahmed had treated John’s brother using the traditional multiple-port robotic system. In 2019, Dr. Ahmed referred John for an MRI-guided prostate biopsy, which confirmed that he had prostate cancer. Fortunately, the tumor was at an early stage and contained in the prostate. John opted to have his prostate removed rather than undergo radiation therapy.
Dr. Ahmed removed John’s prostate with single-port robotic surgery in November 2019. John stayed in the hospital for less than a day and went home with a urinary catheter, which he used for a week. Today he remains cancer-free, and his PSA is barely detectable.