Patient Stories
Sutter Cancer Centers
Todd - Robotic Surgery for Kidney Tumor
When Todd was in engineering school in the 1980s, his robotic control software professor told him that some day robots would assist in complex surgery. Fast forward to present time and that type of surgery is a reality – and personally came to Todd’s aid.
Earlier this year, Todd learned that he had a mass on his kidney during a computed tomography angiographyused to examine another health condition. After being referred by his primary care physician to Brian Naftulin, M.D., urologist and Medical Director of Robotic Surgery at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, Todd learned about his options for removal of the mass – he could have an open surgery that required a large invasive incision or he could opt for robotic surgery and would incur a few small incisions.
"After doing my research online and talking with Dr. Naftulin, it was an easy choice," said Todd. "I was a candidate for a partial nephrectomy and with the robotic surgery there was substantially less recovery time."
In May, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento upgraded their two da Vinci robotic systems that Dr. Naftulin had used for the past five years with the most advanced model on the market today, the da Vinci SI. On June 15, Todd had a partial nephrectomy to remove the tumor while leaving the remainder of the kidney intact
"One of the benefits of the da Vinci SI is the improved dexterity," said Dr. Naftulin. "Todd’s mass was on the back of his kidney and would not have been possible to remove with the former model. With the advancements and Sutter’s investment in state-of-the-art technology, I was able to remove it with only five small incisions."
Thankfully for Todd, the tumor was benign. The day after surgery he was able to return home and he returned to limited schedule work a week later.
Learn more about da Vinci surgery for partial nephrectomy.
Learn more about Sutter Cancer Center.
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