New Advances in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Robotic-Assisted General Surgery
When medication, lifestyle changes and other non-surgical treatments cannot relieve symptoms, surgery is the accepted treatment for a broad range of conditions. If surgery is recommended, you want to learn as much as you can about your surgical options and find the physician and hospital that are right for you.
While surgery is generally the most effective treatment option for a range of upper and lower intestinal conditions, traditional open surgery with a large incision has its drawbacks – pain, trauma, long recovery time and risk of infection.
Fortunately, less invasive options are available to many patients. The most common of these is laparoscopic surgery, in which smaller incisions are used. While conventional laparoscopy is effective for many routine procedures, it has inherent limitations when more intricate and complex surgery is required.
Thanks to the latest evolution in surgical technology, physicians now have an effective alternative to traditional open surgery and laparoscopy that may allow them to provide patients with the best of both approaches. With the assistance of the da Vinci® Surgical System, surgeons can now operate using incisions of only 1-2 cm, but with greater precision, control and visualization than ever before. da Vinci can help surgeons minimize the pain and risk associated with surgery while increasing the likelihood of a faster recovery and return to work and activities.
The da Vinci® System is not a robot as one might think. It’s a high-tech tool used by surgeons who control all of the system's movement. The da Vinci® Surgical System simulates the human hand and enables surgeons to get into spaces that they otherwise would have tremendous difficulty accessing. With the system’s 3-D magnification, surgeons have improved visualization of the surgical field. For example, they are able to see individual blood vessels and nerves they wouldn’t normally be able to see. This all adds up to being able to perform many surgeries in a more precise manner.