What is Robotic Surgery?

Robotic surgery is the latest evolution of minimally invasive surgical procedures and is now available at Mount Carmel West on the da Vinci robotic surgical system. During surgery, three or four robotic arms are inserted into the patient though small incisions in the abdomen. One arm is a camera, two act as the surgeon's hands and a fourth arm may be used to move obstructions out of the way. The surgeon is seated at a nearby console and looks into a viewfinder which provides a three dimensional image of the surgical field. The surgeon's hands are placed in special devices that direct the instruments in the robotic arms and filter out any tremors in the physician's hands. This enhanced precision is especially helpful to the surgeon during especially delicate portions of procedures.

Patient Benefits

Due to small incisions, less trauma to the body and greater surgeon precision, robotic surgery provides the following benefits over traditional open procedures including:

• Shorter hospital stay
• Less blood loss
• Less pain
• Fewer complications, including less risk of infection
• Faster return to normal activities

For surgeons, robotic surgery is more precise due to better visualization of the surgical field, correction for tremors in hand movements and greater maneuverability of instruments.