Bladder Lift da Vinci Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgery

When the tissue supporting your bladder weakens, the bladder can move down from its original position. This action frequently puts pressure on your vagina, contributes to bladder and uterine infections, and uncontrollable urine leakage. This is a condition that many women experience as a result of several births, menopause, previous OB-GYN operations, stress, and even being overweight.

To lift your bladder back into its natural position, your Glendora General Surgeon can perform a minimally invasive da Vinci Robotic operation. Once your bladder has been restored to its normal position, the pressure will be relieved, and you’ll have normal urinary functions.

The surgery is called a cystocele, and it is performed in a hospital. Because you will have a catheter in your bladder to catch urine, you will need to stay in the hospital for 24 to 48 hours after the operation. The catheter will be removed before you leave the hospital.

Bladder Lift da Vinci Surgery

Before the operation, you’ll be given a general anesthetic so that you will sleep through the surgery and not feel any pain. Then, the surgeon, or one of his surgical team, will make 4 or 5 small incisions in your abdomen. The arms of the da Vinci robot and a camera will use three of the incisions. Surgical mesh, human tissue, and suture materials will use the other 1 or 2 incisions. The surgeon will view the surgery site through the camera at a control panel and guide the robotic arms as if they were human hands. The bladder will be lifted and placed against the sacral bone with a strip of polypropylene mesh. Then the human tissue or surgical mesh will be sutured over the polypropylene mesh to form a barrier between the lifted bladder and surrounding organs. A catheter will be placed in your bladder, the robotic arms and the camera are removed, and the incisions will be closed with sutures.

You will be taken to a recovery area where your vital signs will be observed until you are awake. You will then be moved to your hospital room where you will remain until you leave the hospital. The catheter will be removed before you go home.

Post-Operative Care

Before leaving the hospital, you’ll be given instructional information on

How long to rest before resuming any daily activities
What dietary guidelines to follow
What side effects you may experience, and what side effects may be unusual that will require you to call the surgeon
What medication to take for pain, and a prescription for pain management will be given if needed
When you can return to work and resume driving
What urinary and bowel movements will be like until you are fully recovered
When you can resume any strenuous activities
When to schedule follow up office visits

The normal time required for a full recovery varies from person to person, but generally recovery takes between 4 to 6 weeks.