Nov 30 2010
Royal Alexandria Hospital in Edmonton offers treatment for gynecologic cancers by using the da Vinci system, a minimally invasive surgical robot. Alberta Health Services (AHS) has reported that around 50 da Vinci-assisted gynecologic procedures were carried out in Edmonton region during the initial eleven months of this year, exceeding the 31 such surgeries carried out in 2009.
It is expected that the number of robot-assisted gynecologic procedures will profoundly increase as they are widely preferred by several local oncologists. Royal Alexandria is the only hospital in the Canadian prairies to provide this therapy option.
da Vinci Robot
Dr. Tiffany Wells, Gynecologic Oncologist, has stated that the robot-assisted procedure is so accurate and offers speedy recovery. She mentioned that unlike laparotomy, which involves a big, open-stomach incision, robotic surgery involves only four incisions, each measuring 1cm. She added that patients are discharged the next day following the surgery and the recovery period is around two weeks, enabling them to instigate additional therapy options like radiation or chemotherapy sooner.
The da Vinci surgical robot features an exclusive surgeon’s console, a cart on the patient-side with four arms, which can react accurately to the hand movements of the surgeon. All the 3D high definition images of the entire procedure can be viewed by the surgeon.
The robot can be utilized for treating Stage 1 cervical cancer. Few significant criteria to be considered for choosing patients for this treatment option include tumor and uterus size, severity of the disease and body-mass index (BMI).
Last year, the first da Vinci assisted surgery was performed in Edmonton. Other cities providing this treatment include Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. The da Vinci surgical robot is also utilized to perform robotic prostatectomy.