Robotic vs Laser vs Open Prostate Surgery in India

If you have been told you need prostate surgery, you have almost certainly come across three names in the same afternoon: Robotic Surgery, Laser Prostate Surgery and Open Surgery. They are not three versions of one operation. They treat two completely different prostate problems, so once you know which of the two you have, you will know which operations are open to you and what each one costs at World Class Hospitals in India.

Treatment Options for Your Prostate Condition in India

Your prostate can cause trouble in two separate ways, and the treatment for one is not the treatment for the other.

The first is an enlarged prostate, known as Benign Prostatic Enlargement. The gland grows, presses on the tube that carries urine out of your bladder, and you find yourself waking at night, straining to start, or never quite emptying. This is not cancer and it does not turn into cancer over time, and Laser Prostate Surgery exists to relieve this blockage and for no other purpose.

The second is Prostate Cancer, usually picked up by a raised PSA blood test and confirmed by a biopsy and imaging. When the cancer is contained within the gland and your general health allows it, the whole prostate is removed in an operation called a Radical Prostatectomy. That operation is carried out either with a surgical robot or through an open incision.

Figure 1. The two different prostate problems, and why they need different operations.

The starting point of your decision is therefore your diagnosis rather than your preference, and you already have that diagnosis in your hand. Use the table below to see which operations belong to your situation.

If you are still unsure which of these describes you, send us your reports. Our doctors will tell you which of the two groups you are in, at No Obligation and at zero cost to you, and you will have that answer within 48 Hours.

Most Advanced Treatment Options for an Enlarged Prostate in India

Figure 2. Three ways to clear an enlarged prostate, compared.

All three of the operations below do the same job. They remove or vaporise the inner tissue that is squeezing your urine tube, and they leave the outer shell of the gland in place. None of them removes your prostate, and which one your surgeon recommends will depend mostly on the size of your gland and on whether you are taking blood thinning medicines.

GreenLight PVP Laser, from 3,000 US Dollars

A laser fibre vaporises the obstructing tissue as it goes, sealing small blood vessels at the same time. Because the fibre seals the vessels as it works, blood loss stays very low, and this is the option most often suggested to patients who cannot safely stop their blood thinning tablets. Most patients are able to go home the following day, and many of them leave the hospital without a catheter in place at all.

HoLEP Holmium Laser Enucleation, from 3,250 US Dollars

A holmium laser separates the inner tissue from the shell in one piece, which is then removed through the same passage. It suits a very large gland that would otherwise need an open operation, and the tissue removed can be sent for examination. You can read more about Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate and about Minimally Invasive Laser Prostate Treatments on our site.

TURP Prostate Surgery

An electrical loop shaves away the obstructing tissue. It has been performed for decades and it works well, although it usually means a slightly longer catheter time than either of the laser options, and it is quoted for you once your reports have been reviewed. Our page on Laser Prostate Surgery in India compares it against the laser routes in more detail.

Whichever of the three you have, you are treating a blockage and not a cancer, so the recovery conversation is about your stream and your sleep rather than about cancer control. Our full Urological Treatment in India section carries the wider picture.

Most Advanced Prostate Cancer Surgery Options at World Class Hospitals in India

Figure 3. How your surgeon reaches the prostate, robotic against open.

When the decision is to remove the prostate, there are two ways to reach it, and the cancer operation performed inside you is the same in both. Your surgeon removes the whole gland, examines the nearby lymph nodes where that is indicated, and joins your bladder back to your urethra.

Robotic Radical Prostatectomy

Your surgeon operates through five or six small keyhole cuts, seated at a console that magnifies the view many times over and steadies every movement of the instruments. The nerves that control erections run in a thin bundle against the outer surface of the prostate, and that magnified, steady view is why this route is the one most often chosen when those nerves can be spared. Our detailed guide to Robotic Prostate Surgery Cost in India sets out the package, the stay and the recovery, and our Robotic Prostate Cancer Surgery in India page covers the procedure itself. If you want to understand the equipment rather than the operation, read Prostate Cancer Treatment with da Vinci Robotic Surgery.

Open Radical Prostatectomy

Your surgeon reaches the prostate through a single incision below the navel. It remains a sound cancer operation and it is still the right answer for some patients, particularly where previous abdominal surgery makes keyhole access difficult. You should expect a longer stay in hospital and a longer recovery at home than the robotic route. Our page on Radical Prostatectomy Surgery in India explains the operation, and Radical Prostatectomy Cost in India covers what shapes the estimate.

Treatment Options for Prostate Cancer without Surgery

Surgery is not the only route. External beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy seeds placed inside the gland, and hormone treatment are all offered at our partner hospitals, and for a small, carefully selected tumour there is non surgical HIFU treatment for Prostate Cancer. Some men with a slow growing, low risk cancer are advised to monitor it rather than treat it at all. Our Advanced Treatments for Prostate Cancer in India page sets these side by side.

Unmatched Advantages of Robotic Prostate Surgery over Open Surgery

The cancer operation is the same in both columns. What differs is your recovery, your blood loss and the length of your stay, and those are the things your surgeon will weigh against your own fitness and your own history.

Why you should choose World Class Hospitals in India for Prostate Surgery

Figure 4. Why the number of operations your surgeon has performed matters.

Three things will shape your result more than the choice between a robot and an open incision, and you still have some influence over the first of them.

• How often your surgeon performs this exact operation. When a surgeon is among their first ten prostate removals, roughly one patient in six sees the cancer come back within five years. By the time that same surgeon has performed two hundred and fifty of them, it is closer to one in ten. This is why we select your surgeon on the number of these operations performed, and not on reputation alone.
• The stage of your cancer when you arrive. A tumour still held inside the gland gives your surgeon room to spare the nerves. One that has pushed through the capsule does not, whichever route is used.
• What your pathology report says afterwards. The examination of the removed gland tells you whether the margins were clear and whether anything further is needed. You will have that report in your hand before you fly home.

Our partner hospitals hold NABH accreditation, and several also hold JCI accreditation. These are checkable standards covering theatre sterility, nursing ratios and complication reporting, and they let us place you with a high volume robotic programme rather than with whoever has a free slot.

Is Robotic Prostate Surgery the Right Choice for You?

Robotic Radical Prostatectomy tends to be the route our doctors recommend when the following are true of you.

• Your biopsy and imaging show the cancer contained within the gland.
• You are fit enough for a general anaesthetic and for the head down position the operation requires.
• You have not had extensive previous surgery inside the abdomen.
• Recovering quickly matters to you, because of work, because of the flight home, or because of family you support.
• Preserving erectile function is important to you and your cancer allows the nerves to be spared.

If two or three of those do not describe you, open surgery, radiotherapy or careful monitoring is likely to suit you better, and your treatment plan will be built around that instead. Patients who have already made this journey have written about it in their own words on our patient experience testimonials page, including Mr. Adedeji Iheanacho from Nigeria and James Rutherford from the United Kingdom.

Prostate Surgery Cost in India at World Class Hospitals

Figure 5. What each route costs at World Class Hospitals in India.

Our packages are Highly Negotiated Surgery-Treatment Packages arranged hospital by hospital, so no figure above is your final price. Your own estimate is prepared only once a doctor has read your reports, and it covers your surgery, your hospital stay, your surgeon and anaesthetist, and your routine medicines and tests during admission. A fuller breakdown sits on our Prostate Cancer Surgical Cost in India page, and our Best Prostate Cancer Treatment Hospitals in India page explains how we place you.

How it Works – Get Most Affordable Treatment in India

• Send us your Medical Reports by Email or WhatsApp. Your PSA readings, your biopsy report and your scans are enough to begin.
• Receive an Expert Medical Opinion and a Treatment Cost Estimate within 48 Hours. Our doctors tell you which operation fits your case, at No Obligation and at zero cost to you.
• Have a one to one discussion with the treating surgeon. You may ask for a Second Opinion from another of our specialists before you commit to anything.
• We arrange everything else. Your Medical Visa invitation letter, your airport pick up, your accommodation for you and your attendant, and your care from arrival to send off.

We charge you no service fee at any stage. You settle your hospital account directly with the hospital itself, after you have arrived in India and your treatment plan is confirmed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which operation do I need, laser or robotic?

It depends on what you have been diagnosed with rather than on which you prefer. If your prostate is enlarged and blocking your urine, you need one of the laser operations or TURP. If you have Prostate Cancer and your doctors have advised removing the gland, you need a Radical Prostatectomy, performed either robotically or open. Send us your reports and we will tell you which of the two situations you are in.

Can Laser Prostate Surgery treat my Prostate Cancer?

No. Laser treatment clears the tissue that is blocking your urine flow and leaves the rest of the gland behind, so it cannot remove a cancer. If you have been offered laser treatment and you also have a raised PSA, ask your doctor to explain which of the two problems is being treated.

Is the robot operating on me by itself?

No, the system never acts on its own. Your surgeon controls every movement from a console beside the operating table, and the instruments move only when your surgeon moves them. The system magnifies the view and removes the natural tremor of the human hand, and that is the whole of what it does.

Will I still be able to have sex after Prostate Cancer surgery?

Many men do, and the nerve sparing technique exists for exactly this reason, but no surgeon anywhere can promise you that outcome before your operation has been performed. The result depends on your erections before surgery, on your age, and on whether your cancer sits far enough away from the nerve bundles for them to be spared. Your surgeon will discuss what is realistic in your own case with you openly, well before you are asked to consent to anything.

How long will I have to stay in India?

Plan on ten to fourteen days in India for a Radical Prostatectomy, and on a shorter stay if you are having laser treatment for an enlarged prostate. You must remain until your urinary catheter has been removed, and the day that happens is decided by your surgeon and differs from one patient to another.

Why can I not be given a final price right now?

Because your estimate is built from your own medical reports rather than read off a price list that applies to everybody. The size of your gland, the stage of your cancer, the medicines you already take and the length of your stay all move the figure. Our doctors read your reports before any figure is quoted to you, and you then receive a costed plan within 48 Hours.

Is open surgery a worse operation than robotic surgery?

It is not a worse cancer operation, because the same gland is removed and the same lymph nodes are examined in both. What differs is the recovery, the blood loss and the length of your stay, and for some patients the open route is the safer choice.

How do I know your hospitals are safe?

Our partner hospitals hold NABH accreditation and several also hold JCI accreditation. Both are checkable standards covering theatre sterility, infection control, nursing ratios and complication reporting. Ask us at any point and we will tell you exactly which accreditations are held by the hospital that would be treating you.

Can my wife or my son travel with me?

Yes, India grants two Medical Attendant Visas against one Medical Visa, so two family members may travel with you, and we arrange accommodation where your attendant can stay alongside you.

What does it cost me to ask you?

Nothing at all, because our Expert Medical Opinion, your Treatment Cost Estimate and every arrangement we make for you are provided at zero cost to you and at No Obligation. We do not collect any service fee from patients at any stage.

Get the SafeMedTrip Advantage

Benefit from our expertise of helping hundreds of foreign patients reach Globally Trained & Highly Experienced Specialists in India. You will be assigned a SafeMedTrip Patient Case Manager for your whole stay, there is zero waiting period for your surgery date, and we look after you from arrival to send off. Send us your Medical Reports by Email or WhatsApp today and we will come back to you within 48 Hours.

Send your reports on WhatsAppEmail your reports

Sources

• National Cancer Institute, Prostate Cancer Treatment PDQ
• NHS, Prostate cancer treatment
• NHS, Benign prostate enlargement
• European Association of Urology, Prostate Cancer Guidelines
• European Association of Urology, Management of Non-Neurogenic Male LUTS
• National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, NABH