Robotic Innovation in the Operating Room
From: August 05, 2015
If you’re unfamiliar with robotic surgery, those very words may conjure images of surgical drones hovering over patients, autonomously performing complex operations. But you can rest assured robotic surgery is not science fiction, and it is not something to fear.
Surgeons have always relied on instruments to perform operations, including the simplest of tools, such as a scalpel for making incisions or forceps for holding tissue. In many ways, the history of surgical advancement is the story of innovation in technique and technology, and the surgical robot is quite simply the most sophisticated surgical tool ever created, merging the manual dexterity of open surgery with the smaller incisions and expedited recovery of minimally invasive surgery.
In a robot-assisted operation, robotic instruments are inserted through small incisions just like in other minimally invasive procedures, but the surgeon manipulates the robotic instruments from a command console using specialized controls and 3-dimensional video visualization. And, unlike traditional laparoscopic or thoracoscopic instruments, the robotic instruments have a wrist mechanism as well as refined movements that more closely approximate the abilities of the first and most capable of surgical instruments—the human hand.
In pediatric surgery, many of the most complex operations are still performed most safely and effectively using an open technique, particularly in newborns and infants. But the advent of robotic technology means that a growing number of these extremely complex procedures can now be done using tiny incisions—often no larger than the width of an ink pen.
As a part of our comprehensive general and thoracic pediatric surgery program, robotic surgery is an effective tool helping Our Lady of the Lake provide the best care possible for our smallest patients.
Hear one family’s story about their experience with robotic surgery, and how it changed their son’s life in the new issue of Amazing magazine.
Dr. James Wood with Robotic Surgery Tool