Surgery system brings 'huge advantage' to Bassett
By Erin Jerome Staff Writer
The da Vinci Surgical System has brought robotic precision to Bassett Healthcare Network surgeries and shorter recovery times to patients since the $2.5 million-dollar machine was purchased last year.
Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown is using the system for a variety of colorectal and abdominal surgeries, including colon cancer, hernia and bariatric procedures.
A video widely circulated on the internet shows the advanced machine stitching up a grape. Bassett has the most top-of-the-line model, the Xi, said chief of general surgery Jose Raul Monzon.
“Ergonomically it’s a huge advantage for the surgeon,” said Dr. Luis Oceguera, who launched the colorectal robotic surgery program and has worked in tandem with Monzon for seven years. “The robot just gives you better visualization and more degree of dexterity with the instruments.”
While the hospital has performed minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures for the last decade, the new machine offers greater functionality with a 3D high definition view inside the body and tiny wristed instruments for better control, allowing entire operations to be done inside the abdomen. Oceguera and Monzon perform some surgeries with a hybrid approach of traditional laparoscopy and the da Vinci.
Monzon said that they perform about 100 colostomy surgeries a year that now utilize the robot. It has also provided a significant advantage for rectal surgeries, he said, with better visuals and articulation to remove difficult to reach tumors.
Robotic surgeries typically cut down in-hospital recovery time by about a day. Patients have fewer and smaller incisions, less blood loss, less post-surgery pain and better outcomes.
The system is also used at Bassett for prostate surgeries and hysterectomies, as well as many other procedures excluding those of the chest and neck.
Monzon emphasized that the machine has no automatic functions and is completely controlled by the surgeon.
Erin Jerome, staff writer, may be reached at (607) 441-7221, or at ejerome@thedailystar.com.
Follow her on Twitter at @DS_ErinJ . |
