Robot-Assisted Surgery

When attempting to improve surgical procedures, devising ways to perform surgery while making fewer and smaller cuts helps tremendously. One way to achieve that is with robot-assisted surgery. The Da Vinci surgical system, now in use at Sunrise Hospital Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital and St. Rose Hospital Dominican Hospitals Siena Campus, allows surgeons to make smaller and more precise incisions, which substantially reduces recovery time.
Forbes.com featured the Da Vinci surgical system in a February 2004 story called “Five Robots That Will Change Your Life.” Robot-assisted surgery is becoming more common. Several surgeons in Las Vegas use the Da Vinci robot to do delicate work such as gynecological surgery and pediatric urological surgery.
The surgery is minimally invasive. Surgeons at the University of Michigan found that while robot-assisted surgery took about 30 minutes longer than conventional laparoscopic surgery, patients recovered more quickly and had less scarring.
Dr. Lynn Kowalski, specializing in gynecologic oncology, uses the Da Vinci system to perform surgery related to cervical cancer, uterine fibroids, endometriosis and other gynecological conditions.
“There are fewer complications,” Kowalski said. “Patients can go home the next day. The shorter recovery times allow me to spend more time performing surgery and less time seeing patients. I’m there if they need me, but with minimally invasive surgery they don’t need me as much.”
The Da Vinci system allows surgeons to sit several feet from the patient, remotely manipulating robotic arms while viewing the procedure on a high-definition monitor mounted in a surgical console. The robotic assistance reduces the effects of hand and finger tremors and makes long and complex procedures more comfortable for the surgeon, thereby reducing the likelihood of fatigue-related mistakes.
Dr. Alex Lesani, a urologic surgeon, uses the Da Vinci system to remove tumors related to prostate and kidney cancer.
“I was the first to perform removal of cancer (with the Da Vinci system) in Las Vegas,” Lesani said.
Lesani said the system has numerous advantages over conventional laparoscopic surgery techniques.
“It gives a greater magnification and increased dexterity, allowing us to more easily spare the nerves responsible for erection during prostate surgery,” he said. “There is also less urinary leakage. These outcomes are very important to men having this surgery.”
Dr. Mulugeta Kassahun, a surgeon specializing in urology and oncology, also uses the Da Vinci system to remove prostate and kidney cancer tumors. He says the system offers more flexibility — the robotic wrists can rotate 360 degrees, more than twice that of a human wrist — as well as better vision and greater precision.
“The patients have less bleeding, less pain,” Kassahun said.
The system costs about $1.6 million and requires $100,000 to $150,000 per year in maintenance costs.