Physicians at The James are using robotic instrumentation to perform hysterectomies and lymph node dissections for treating uterine cancer as well as radical hyterectomies and lymph node dissections for patients with cervical cancer.
Robotics have been used in heart and prostate surgeries for years, but now the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the minimally invasive technique for treatment of gynecological disorders, including hysterectomies (removal of the uterus) and myomectomies (removal of uterine fibroids).
Typically, these procedures have required large abdominal incisions, resulting in blood loss, pain and scarring – and a lengthy recovery period.
With the da Vinci robotic system, patients can expect to have a shorter hospital stay and a faster overall recovery, often within two weeks instead of six weeks. There is much less blood loss, pain and scarring, and less risk of infection with this surgery.
The da Vinci is a refrigerator-sized robot with arms that allow surgeons to perform precise and delicate movements with tiny surgical instruments. Just a few small incisions, rather than a major incision, are needed to accommodate the miniaturized robotic instruments and tiny camera inserted in the patient’s abdomen.
The multilens camera provides a magnified, three-dimensional image of the internal organs, enabling the surgeon to watch the surgery on a monitor at an adjacent workstation while manipulating joysticks to precisely control the surgical instruments.