News/PR
Robot Assisted Surgery Tranforms Kidney Procedures at Bay Medical
October 6, 2008
Contact:
Christa Dean Hild
850-747-6542
Much Smaller Incisions Dramatically Reduce Recovery Time
Panama City, FL – For patients suffering from kidney cancer, surgical treatment and recovery have become much less invasive and much faster thanks to the robotic technology available at Bay Medical. Over 51,000 new cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. yearly. The gold standard treatment for localized kidney cancer is surgical removal of the kidney or kidney tumors, called a nephrectomy. A nephrectomy is traditionally performed using an open approach, which requires a large abdominal incision from the patient’s back around the side to the abdomen. With the use of the daVinci® Surgical System, urologists Warren Hitt, M.D., and Carlos Ramos, M.D., are able to remove part or all of the affected kidney through four smaller incisions of just a few centimeters in length.
Through the four tiny incisions, or access ports, the surgeon is able to navigate the robotic instrument arms and endoscopic arm during the procedure. The endoscopic camera used with the da Vinci enables the surgeon to see up to 10 times better and magnifies the surgical site in such a manner that some surgeons report that their vision from the surgical console is “like being inside the body.” Seated at the Master Console, the surgeon navigates the surgical instruments using hand and foot controls. Each natural hand, wrist and finger movement is seamlessly translated into corresponding micro-movements of the instruments. Unlike surgical instruments used in laparoscopic surgery – another minimally invasive technique – the da Vinci instruments rotate much the same way the human wrist can maneuver to mirror the surgeon’s movements. The da Vinci allows for corresponding eye-hand-instrument alignment, so that whichever direction the surgeon twists the controls, the instruments also twist in that direction.
Since November of 2005, the daVinci has been utilized for approximately 300 cases including many urology and gynecology procedures, as well as some minimally invasive heart procedures. Thus far, surgeons at Bay Medical have performed eight nephrectomies with more on the schedule. The da Vinci Surgical System is available exclusively at Bay Medical in our area. There are currently six surgeons trained in offering robotic surgery including Dr. Warren Hitt, Urologist; Dr. Michael Jenkins, Urologist; Dr. Carlos Ramos, Urologist; Dr. Justo Maquiera, OB/Gyn; Dr. Greg Morrow, OB/Gyn; and Dr. Reed Finney, Cardiothoracic Surgeon.
For more information please contact Christa Hild at 747-6542.