DaVinci Robotic Surgery Procedure Information?

Well, no wonder it is available in few locations, such as Madame Spider Woman's Tattoo Parlor. (The whole concept can work for those who "have faith.")

I'd do some research on the net and then talk to your doctor AND your insurance carrier.

I can personally recommend it. I had a radical prostatectomy on Oct 1st of last year and went back to work on the 15th. I'd estimate that it cut my recovery time in half.

Instead of a 6 inch incision below my navel, I had one two incher and 4 less than one inch incisions. Stayed in hospital over night and about 36 hours total.

In Phoenix there are a couple of hospitals/surgeons who offer it.

This may get deleted because of medical content, but technically, I'd highly recommend it.

Lyn,

Thanks for the reply. Have researched it and my Doc's are considering it after my next round of PT Scans.

Much less invasive with quicker recovery times as you stated. Prostrate and breast cancer seem to be the current uses however it looks promising for almost any surgery, if they can get the robot positioned correctly.

We haven't been able to find a case involving removal of lymph glands surrounding the heart as yet, but the procedure appears to be a Major Breakthrough in surgery!

Although it is true that recovery after surgery is much faster using what is known as Laparoscopic technique in surgical procedures, there is always some risks involve, and possible patient's exposures to some unwanted and unexpected complications arising from the applications of these technologies!

In this type of surgical procedures, whether done using robotics or not, 2 to 3 small incisions are made where instruments will pass thru. Due to a very limited internal view available to the surgeon, taken via a fiber optic scope coupled to an electronic camera, accidental unforeseen damages to other surrounding organs, tissues, most likely to occur during or when high voltage energies are delivered by the surgeon to either cut tissue as well as to cauterize and stop any bleedings.

As proven true in any type of craft, the quality of work done and of the finished product depends on preparations and mostly on how good and careful the craftsman is, which at this point is going to be your surgeon! Prefer those who have been repeatedly doing hundreds of such procedures every year! My advise is to spend more time on selecting, in filtering, and critiquing your surgeon. It is Not to discredit the medical people but try to eliminate unskilled butchers, there is a lot of them around! In the past been a technical witness in major malpractice lawsuits, acted on both parties or sides of the litigation processes.

I had a chance to test and played with this daVinci robotic system on a piece of meat prior to its getting an FDA approval way back in 2000. It is basically an automated remotely controlled machine equipped with at least 2 arms that can be retrofitted (armed) with various surgical instruments. The surgical procedure is known as laparoscopy - where 2 to 3 small incisions are made on the patient's skin and where surgical instruments will go thru via small tubes. One of the arms is fitted with an endoscopic type of instrument with fiber optic, light source, video camera, etc. all in one small tube that get inserted into the body. This enables the surgeon to see the inside organs of the pt. Depending on the surgical procedure, a second small tube can be armed with other surgical instruments all passing through these tiny incisions.

During the procedure, the surgeon /specialist operating, manipulating the robotic arms the can be located anywhere - in an adjacent room, situated in another hospital or any distant location. Only the surgical assistants changing the instruments, coordinating with the remotely located surgeon are in the operating room. This remote setup made possible using dedicated digital communication lines - either via internet, microwave link, etc.

Your basic premise is correct.

The availability of DaVinci or other robotic techniques are actually rather widely available even in community hospitals with populations as small as 50k.