The timing and route of seminal vesicle dissection during robotic prostatectomy

It is with great pleasure that I introduce this new section in the “Journal of Robotic Surgery”. This section, which will appear on a regular basis in the journal, will focus on some of the tough questions that surgeons face during their learning curve or application of robotic technologies to surgery. The Weld of robotic surgery is growing both in experience and technique. As we explore these topics of debate, likely many of these issues have no clear-cut “right” answer, but certainly there are experts who perform similar procedures in markedly diVerent ways, and it is our hope that this section will help the reader gain an understanding of why these surgeons prefer one method over another. We hope that you will gain an appreciation for the struggles and successes of these experiences and techniques and then you can “take home” and incorporate the insights that you Wnd most sensible into your own practice. In the Wrst in the series of controversies we are pleased to have Dr. Randy Fagin from Austin, TX giving his perspective on dissection of the seminal vesicles at the outset of the robotic prostatectomy, while I will address the later dissection of the seminal vesicles. Advantages of the posterior approach to the seminal vesicles during robotic prostatectomy