Urology Expert Witness Discusses Robotic Surgery Error

Case Overview

This case involves a sixty-five-year-old male patient who had a new onset prostate cancer and underwent a robotic assisted prostatectomy that was met with significant complication. The patient had a prior history of an exploratory laparotomy with extensive gastrointestinal manipulation and resection of bowel tissue with a holmium laser enucleation. During the prostatectomy, the surgical note detailed great difficulty maneuvering within the abdomen due to adhesions and problems placing the patient in a standard prostatectomy position. There was also mention of proper insufflation issues that prevented a proper window into the surgical workspace. Ultimately, due to the robotic surgery, the patient sustained a perforation to the small bowel that needed to be resected with a reanastomosis required during a corrective exploratory laparotomy procedure. The patient suffered from complications linked to a very large surgical wound that would not heal for an extended time period.