Evergreen Healthcare Becomes First Hospital to Perform Robot Assisted General Surgery in Puget Sound

US based Evergreen Healthcare has become the first hospital in the Puget Sound to carry out a general surgery with the assistance of robots. Surgeons at the hospital made use of the da Vinci surgical robot for the purpose of general surgery though the da Vinci surgical robot is made for certain specialised surgical procedures.

At present, da Vinci surgical robots are used specifically for obstetrical and urological surgeries. At Evergreen Healthcare, surgeons have extended the usage of this surgical robot to bariatric and laparoscopic procedures. The hospital used the surgical robot to remove a gall bladder for the first time in the Puget Sound during October 2011. The patient on whom this procedure was carried out required no medication and was discharged on the same day. The hospital has been using the da Vinci surgical robot for two years. Due to increasing demand from patients, the hospital intends to utilise the da Vinci system.

The da Vinci surgical robot helps surgeons to control or manipulate surgical instruments through a high-resolution endoscopic camera. The robot arms act as an extension of the natural arm movements of the surgeon and helps in refining such movements to reduce the occurrence of any error. Evergreen Healthcare has recently introduced MAKOPlasty surgical technology for knee replacement which includes computer based navigation, anthroscopy and knee replacement through minimally invasive procedures.