Surgeon shows how magnetic surgery reduces number of incisions and resultant scars

Nearly two decades ago, Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu was watching TV when a lightbulb went off. The program showed teens using magnetic studs to avoid piercings in their lips, and Dr. Cadeddu, a surgeon, realized the same principal could be applied to his work, reducing the number of incisions and resultant scars.

This summer Dr. Cadeddu performed the first of several magnet-assisted prostate cancer surgeries he has now done.

"Every hole you create in a patient has a risk associated with it. Every incision means increased pain, increased risk of hitting a blood vessel," said Dr. Cadeddu, Professor of Urology and Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

How magnetic surgery works

In traditional laparoscopic surgery, tools are manipulated from inside slender tubes inserted through small incisions. In magnetic surgery, surgical tools are manipulated with a magnet on the skin, which eliminates the need for an incision and increases the field of motion.

Dr. Cadeddu and his colleagues spent years developing the concept of magnetic-assisted surgery, reporting on their work in The Annals of Surgery. Though another company subsequently took up the mantel, when the FDA approved the first commercial magnetic-assisted laparoscopic surgery system, Dr. Cadeddu was delighted to make UT Southwestern one of the few medical centers in the country – and the first in Texas – to put the magnetic surgery device to use.

In magnetic surgery, multiple operative devices are inserted through an access point and then the magnetic device is controlled by a magnet on the skin over the abdomen. By contrast, conventional laparoscopic or robotic surgery requires an incision for each tool.

Prostate cancer surgery is typically performed with a robotic system that requires six incisions for the various surgical instruments and camera. "Going forward, five incisions or likely even less may become standard for this procedure," Dr. Cadeddu said.

Last week, Dr. Cadeddu demonstrated the magnetic-assisted surgery technique for attendees at the Asia Pacific Prostate Cancer Conference in Brisbane, Australia. "My dream of doing magnetic surgery dates back to when I was a young faculty member, and it has finally come true," said Dr. Cadeddu, who holds the Ralph C. Smith, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Minimally Invasive Urologic Surgery.

Source: https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2018/magnetic-surgery.html