DaVinci Robotic Surgery

When other treatments do not ease the patients symptoms, your doctor may suggest surgery. Surgery may include: open surgery (through a large incision) and laparoscopy – also known as minimally invasive surgery (through a few small incisions). Minimally invasive surgery can be done using traditional laparoscopy or robotic-assisted da Vinci Surgery.

What is da Vinci Surgery?

The da Vinci® Surgical System enables surgeons to perform operations through a few small incisions. The da Vinci System features a magnified 3D high-definition vision system and tiny wristed instruments that bend and rotate far greater than the human hand. The system magnified vision system gives surgeons a 3D high-definition view inside the patient’s body. The system features an ergonomically designed console where the surgeon sits while operating. One of the instruments is a laparoscope – a thin tube with a tiny camera and light at the end. The camera sends images to a video monitor in the operating room to guide doctors during surgery. Your surgeon is 100% in control of the da Vinci System at all times.

The da Vinci® Surgical System represents the latest in surgical and robotics technologies. da Vinci technology translates your surgeon’s hand movements into smaller, precise movements of tiny instruments inside your body. As a result, da Vinci enables your surgeon to operate with enhanced vision, precision and control.

The da Vinci® Surgical System has brought minimally invasive surgery to more than 3 million patients worldwide.

Robotic Surgery

Robotic Surgery is essentially advanced laparoscopic surgery using a robot for improved dexterity of the surgeon utilizing 3-d enhanced optics which are magnified for more precise surgery. Currently, our surgeons use Robotics to assist in many surgeries, i.e. removing only the cancerous part of the kidney and preserving the rest of the kidney. Ask your doctor if robotics are suitable for your surgery.

When medication and other non-surgical treatments are unavailable or cannot relieve symptoms, surgery is the recommended treatment for many conditions that affect the body. These conditions include, among other things, prostate cancer, ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction, and kidney cancer.

Facing surgery can create a great deal of anxiety. Typically, a common concern is: “Will my body function normally after surgery?” Traditional open surgery using large incisions to access the abdominal and pelvic organs has been the standard approach when surgery is needed. But there are several drawbacks to these procedures including: significant post-surgical pain, a long recovery, and large scars.

Laparoscopic and Robotic surgical procedures are surgical procedures performed with the smallest amount of damage possible to the body. Your physician will make the minimum amount of incisions necessary to perform the procedure.  These incisions are usually very small, reducing risk of blood loss, infections and post-surgical complications.

Robotic Surgical Procedures

People may be nervous when they hear about robotic surgery.  They want an experienced surgeon performing surgery, not a robot.  But robotic surgery is really robot-assisted surgery.  This groundbreaking alternative to both traditional open surgery and conventional laparoscopy enables surgeons to perform even the most complex and delicate procedures through very small incisions with unmatched precision.  The robot acts as an extension of the surgeon’s hands and reacts to motions made by the surgeon.  There are no “automated” functions to the surgical robot.  The da Vinci ® Surgical System, is being used by an increasing number of surgeons worldwide for procedures. It is a minimally invasive approach, using the latest in surgical and robotics technologies and is ideal for delicate surgery. Using da Vinci ®, your surgeon has a better tool to spare those delicate and critical surrounding nerves.

This may improve your recovery experience and clinical outcomes with such benefits as:

•    Significantly less pain
•    Less blood loss
•    Fewer complications
•    Less scarring
•    A shorter hospital stay
•    And a faster return to normal daily activities

As with any surgery, these benefits cannot be guaranteed, as surgery is unique to each patient and procedure. The da Vinci ® Surgical System is considered safe and effective, but may not be appropriate for everyone. Always ask your doctor about all treatment options, as well as the benefits and risks.

Additional information about robotic surgery can be found at www.davincisurgery.com.