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McKenzie-Willamette Launches da Vinci Robotic Surgery
Above: Oregon Urology Institute surgeons with da Vinci robotic equipment in the background.
About da Vinci Technology (Video)
Patient Education (pdf file)
Patients often experience less pain and bleeding, and a quicker recovery time with less invasive da Vinci robotics surgery. Prostate surgery patient Mr. Dave Barta was back playing soccer in just four weeks following his surgery (Video Clip).
For the patient, the new technology translates into less pain and faster recovery. Surgery is performed through several incisions no wider than a fingertip. A pencil-sized video camera inserted through one of those incisions provides magnified, 3-D images of the surgical site. The surgeon, seated a few feet away at a computer console, uses hand controls to guide the robot's four arms. With minimally invasive procedures there is typically less blood loss, less scarring, and reduced risk of infection.
Several local surgeons from the Oregon Urology Institute will use the da Vinci, including Connie DiMarco, MD; David Esrig, MD; Douglas Hoff, MD; Bryan Mehlhaff, MD; Olof Sohlberg, MD; and Brady Walker, MD. A seventh surgeon, David DiMarco, MD, came to Lane County from the Mayo Clinic, where he performed robotic-assisted surgeries.
The Oregon Urology Institute was incorporated in 2004 when Urology Healthcare, PC, and Oregon Urology Specialists, PC, formed a single group to provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art urologic care in Oregon and to support areas of urology specialization among the participating physicians.
Background
The hospital installed the $1.6 million da Vinci® S™ in the spring of 2006. The portable system can be used by surgeons in several of McKenzie-Willamette's operating rooms. Urologists are the first local surgeons who plan to use McKenzie-Willamette’s new system. They will initially perform minimally invasive radical prostatectomies (prostate removal). In 2004 the da Vinci prostatectomy procedure became the fastest-growing treatment for prostate cancer.
A traditional, open radical prostatectomy requires two days of hospitalization and recovery lasting about four weeks. With robotic-assisted surgery, those times can be reduced. (Not all patients will be suitable candidates for robotic-assisted surgery.)
In 2000, the da Vinci system, developed by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., became the first robotic system cleared by the FDA for general, cardiac, urologic and gynecologic procedures. It is named for Leonardo da Vinci, who invented the first robot. McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center is one of the first ten hospitals in the world to have the da Vinci® S™.
For more information about robotic-assisted surgery at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, call 726-4789.
For more information about robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy, call Oregon Urology Institute, 334-3350.
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