Keeping pace with the latest technologies to provide patients with the best surgical outcomes, Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights began using the da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System this week in its operating room. The newest robotic technology replaced NCH’s first da Vinci robot obtained five years ago.
“The da Vinci technology is unbelievable,” said Dr. Ranae Yockey, who performed a hysterectomy on Monday to mark the first use of the da Vinci Si robot. “It has revolutionized minimally invasive surgery.”
Less invasive, more precise and faster recoveries have always been trademarks of a da Vinci surgery, and now those patient benefits are enhanced. The new equipment is easier to use for physicians, and patients experience less pain and lower infection rates compared to conventional surgery.
“The advanced technology cuts down on anesthesia and operating room times, and there are fewer complications and less bleeding,” Dr. Yockey said. “Patients can get back to their normal routines faster following surgery.”
With da Vinci, surgeons use robotic arms to perform the surgery. Instead of traditional open surgery using large incisions, small surgical instruments attached to the robot’s arms enter the body through small incisions. The surgeon sits at a console across the room from the patient and controls the four-armed robot – positioned over the patient – while viewing a high-definition, 3D color image of the surgical field with 10 times the magnification of the human eye. The surgeon’s hand, wrist and finger movements at the console are seamlessly translated into precise, real-time movements of the surgical instruments inside the patient.
“One of the robot’s arms holds a miniature camera, two are used to mimic my hand movements, and the fourth arm is used interchangeably, sometimes providing that ‘extra-hand assist’ to hold back tissue,” Dr. Yockey said. “The dexterity and control goes far beyond the limits of the human hand.”
NCH continues to use da Vinci technology for a multitude of complex surgical procedures in urology, gynecology and colorectal surgery.
For more information about Northwest Community Hospital, visit www.nch.org.
