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When Foresight Leads to Better Insight
At Penn, our revolutionary transoral robotic surgery redefines the treatment of head and neck cancer.
Doctors at the Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania introduce new hope
for patients with tumors of the mouth
and throat. Traditionally, the large
neck incision required for surgeries of
the tongue, tonsil, voice box or throat
resulted in painful recovery, including
difficulty swallowing, scarring and often
extensive reconstructive surgery.
Robotic Surgery Extends its Reach
Being the first to see new possibilities
in already groundbreaking treatment
options has long been Penn's legacy.
Co-directors of the Penn Center for
Head and Neck Cancer, Bert O'Malley,
MD and Gregory Weinstein, MD, furthered
the advancement of successful robotic
surgeries to develop a procedure called
transoral robotic surgery, or TORS.
Designed to avoid open neck surgery
altogether, TORS is done through
the patient's mouth and provides
unprecedented access to the small
and often difficult-to-reach areas of
the mouth and throat.
The high quality
optics, miniaturized size of the robotic
arms as well as the computer-enhanced
dexterity enables the surgeon to see
clearly and operate on a variety of
tumors, even in the most obscure
location in the throat. It's a revolutionary
breakthrough enabling shorter, virtually
scarless head and neck surgery.
"With better access and better imaging, it is possible that
the surgeries may be performed in less time with better
cosmetic and functional results for the patient."
– Gregory Weinstein, MD, Co-Director
Penn Center for Head and Neck Cancer |
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Minimally Invasive,
Exponentially Successful
With 120 successful transoral robotic
surgeries performed already, we are
the pioneer in this innovative procedure.
In fact, the team has expanded the
program to include treatment for
complex skull-base tumors.
At Penn, we are
currently the only place in the world performing this new and extremely
delicate operation. Drs. O'Malley and
Weinstein have trained a handful of
surgeons nationwide to do the TORS
techniques and they are establishing
a Penn-based TORS surgical training
program, the very first of its kind
in the world.
Being the first to adapt the precision
of robotic surgery to this delicate area
of the body is just one example of the
breakthroughs happening at Penn. So when it comes to head and neck
cancers, it's only natural to seek the
wisdom of the leader, because where
you turn first matters most.
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