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Robotic-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery Delivers Improved Results
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin now offer robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery techniques
For several years, minimally invasive surgery has dramatically changed the way certain surgeries are done. Long known as laparoscopic surgery, it involves a surgeon using a long, tube-like camera called an endoscope with a light attached. The surgeon inserts the endoscope through a small incision, and the camera projects an image of the surgical area to a monitor, allowing the surgeon to clearly see the area and to operate.
Froedtert & The Medical College offer the next generation in this surgical process. Using the da Vinci® Surgical System, a robotic-assisted minimally invasive approach, surgeons can perform certain kinds of heart surgery without opening the patient’s chest. A cancer surgeon can precisely remove a malignant prostate tumor through a series of small incisions.
Minimally invasive surgery offers less traumatic results than conventional, open surgery, including smaller incisions with little scarring, less pain, minimal blood loss, reduced risk for infection, shorter hospital stays and faster return to normal activities.
The da Vinci® Surgical System takes minimally invasive surgery a major step further. Capitalizing on recent advances in robotic technology, the system affords improved magnification, precise robotic movements and a three-dimensional view of the surgical site. These offer unmatched precision for performing the surgery. Robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery can be used in a wide variety of cases, including heart surgery, prostate surgery, gynecologic/fertility surgery and thoracic surgery.
Success rates are comparable to traditional surgical methods, and the system is being lauded as the wave of the future.
Source: Froedtert Today Date: May 2009 |