It’s the da Vinci™ surgical system that’s making surgery experiences better than ever. Dr. Peter Howe, one of four surgeons currently using the surgical robot at Saint Elizabeth, says the benefits for patients are: shorter surgery times and much improved recovery. “Of course patients go home in a few days but most impressive is that two weeks after surgery they are back to their normal activities, playing golf or back to work on the farm.”
Once in the operating room, the surgeon sits at a console---looking much like a small, slender, gray igloo (with foot pedals on the ground floor). He looks inside and sees a large TV-style screen and two flexible hand controls. He uses his feet on the pedals to control the camera that looks inside the body and some of the tools. He controls a total of four “arms” on the Saint Elizabeth robot. This is all a reminder that it is the SURGEON who controls the robot; it does not “operate” on its own.
So far, there are only a few surgical procedures for which the Saint Elizabeth robot is used. They are urological and gynecological with prostatectomy being the most frequent -- that’s removal of part, or all, of the prostate, performed on men suffering from prostate cancer.
The biggest benefit for patients is that using the robot only requires incredibly small incisions, smaller even than laparoscopy procedures, and therefore less blood is lost and patients heal and recover much faster than traditional “open” surgery.