Robotic Surgery is fast gaining prominence even in smaller hospitals in the suburban areas. The da Vinci Surgical system has been recently installed at the Summit Medical Center in Hermitage in Tennessee.
Two other hospitals in Tennessee, the Wiliamson Medical Center in Franklin and the Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro along with three hospitals in Nashville are already using this robotic technology, which could imitate the movements carried out by the hands of a surgeon.
da Vinci Surgical system
The robot is guided by the surgeon who sits at a console with master controls, which provides a binocular vision of the whole process. The robot’s four arms hold the surgical instruments, with which it would make tiny incisions and cause minor scarring, lesser blood clots and speedier recoveries. However, the whole procedure needs to be explained to the patients and their families. Dr. John C. Thomas, who is a pediatric urologist at Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, explains to both his patients and their families that it was still only the surgeon who was performing the surgery.
Other hospitals have been using the da Vinci robotic system for many years performing prostatectomies and hysterectomies. Currently, they are also used for throat, abdominal and chest operations, gastric by passes and treatment of sleep apnea. Dr. Adam Huggins who is an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Summit is hoping to perform a robotic surgery using the da Vinci for the first time in Summit. He disclosed that so far the robotic systems were found only at academic institutions or very large hospitals but now these systems were being used even in small community hospitals.
According to Thomas, robotic surgery was being done on very young children. The system was similar to the systems found at other medical centers but the surgical instruments, which were attached to the arms of the robot, were much smaller in comparison.