Western Baptist Hospital recently purchased a DaVinci surgical robot to assist surgeons in certain surgeries.  The robot requires advanced training for the operating room personnel and physicians who use it.  The advantages for the patients are decreased pain, decreased blood loss, shorter hospital stay and more rapid return to daily activity.  The advantages to the surgeon are more precise dissection as well as the same advantages already mentioned for the patients of decreased blood loss, less pain, faster return to the normal daily routine.

Some gyenecologic surgeries are particulaly amenable to robotic assistance.  Some of these surgeries are hysterectomy, removal of ovaries, removal of fibroids, surgery on the fallopian tubes, and advanced lymph node dissection for cancer cases.

If your doctor recommends hysterectomy, you may be a candidate for da Vinci Hysterectomy, one of the most effective, least invasive treatment options for a range of uterine conditions. da Vinci Hysterectomy is performed using the da Vinci^™ Surgical System, which enables surgeons to perform with unmatched precision and control – using only a few small incisions.

da Vinci Hysterectomy offers numerous potential benefits over traditional approaches to vaginal, laparoscopic or open abdominal hysterectomy, particularly when performing more challenging procedures like radical hysterectomy for gynecologic cancer. Potential benefits include: 

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

Moreover, da Vinci provides the surgeon with a superior surgical tool for dissection and removal of lymph nodes during cancer operations, as compared to traditional open or minimally invasive approaches.¹ da Vinci Hysterectomy also allows your surgeon better visualization of anatomy, which is especially critical when working around delicate and confined structures like the bladder. This means that surgeons have a distinct advantage when performing a complex, radical hysterectomy involving adhesions from prior pelvic surgery or non-localized cancer, or an abdominal hysterectomy. ²

As with any surgery, these benefits cannot be guaranteed, as surgery is both patient- and procedure-specific. While radical hysterectomy or abdominal hysterectomy performed using the da Vinci Surgical System are considered safe and effective, these procedures may not be appropriate for every individual. Always ask your doctor about all treatment options, as well as their risks and benefits.