Should you have robotic surgery? Pluses, minuses

Your Health Matters

In this March 22, 2013 photo, Dr. Pier Giulianotti, chief of minimally invasive and robotic surgery at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago, shows off a robotic arm of the da Vinci robot system. Surgeons say the advantages of the system include allowing them to operate sitting down, using small robotic hands with no tremor. But critics say a big increase in robot operations nationwide is due to heavy marketing and hype, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is looking into problems and deaths that may be linked with robotic surgery. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)CHICAGO (AP) — Robotic surgery is being done more and more often for a variety of operations. But experts say there's a lack of strong evidence that it's any better than standard surgery in most cases — and it's usually costlier.

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