DERRY — Parkland Medical Center now offers state-of-the-art robotic surgical technology to patients in the specialties of urology and gynecology.
The hospital took delivery of the da Vinci Surgical System on Aug. 29, and it is now housed in one of its four newly renovated operating rooms.
"Robot-assisted surgery is a less invasive option for many surgical procedures and offers the majority of patients a much faster recovery period," said Kathy Marschner, operating room manager.
The da Vinci Surgical System is operated by a surgeon sitting at a console a few feet away from the patient. Using a high-powered camera, the surgeon guides the arms of the robot that holds surgical tools, which are inserted into the patient through small, keyhole-sized incisions.
The da Vinci's highly accurate instruments allow the surgeon to move his own hands — and the robot's — to conduct precise movements with extraordinary control and range of motion in a closed chest, abdomen or pelvis.
A video monitoring system provides a three-dimensional view of the surgery with magnification ten times that of the naked eye.
Benefits to patients include shorter hospital stays, less pain, less risk of infection, less scarring and faster recovery. For men facing prostate surgery and women facing the diagnosis of cancer or the prospect of a complete hysterectomy, this is welcome news.
Parkland will open the Lahey Institute of Urology at Parkland Medical Center later this month under the direction of Dr. David Canes, a robotic surgeon from the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass. Canes has joined the medical staff at Parkland to oversee the development of a urologic robotic surgery program and he has performed over 200 robotic prostatectomies (surgical removal of all or part of the prostate gland.)
Gynecology is the other surgical specialty at Parkland that will immediately benefit from the $1.5 million robotic system. Several local obstetricians and gynecologists have also been trained and are certified to use the system. The da Vinci could be used during laparoscopic hysterectomies, removal of ovarian cysts or masses and surgeries off the Fallopian tubes or ovaries.
Dr. Wayne White, department head of the obstetrical/gynecological service at Parkland said that the advantages to using the da Vinci is that it expands the number of people who may have this type of laparoscopic surgery ( a surgery done through small incisions rather than one large incision.)
"The device has arms that can rotate like wrists and surgeries can be done through tiny incisions," White said.
"The 'arms' of the robot can reach places with instruments that the human hand may not be able to."
White also said there is the advantage of a magnified three-dimensional view from the robot's camera to guide the surgeon.
For more information about da Vinci surgery and the Lahey Institute of Urology at Parkland Medical Center, call 421-3663.
