Vinci®
Specialists at Holmes Regional Medical Center assist with surgery using the da Robotic Surgery System, the latest
high-tech surgical advancement available.
Contrary to what the name may imply, robotic surgery doesn’t mean the robot is controlling the procedure. Doctors using surgical robots perform the procedures with the robot mimicking movements controlled by the surgeon at a console. The surgeon remains in the operating room, just steps away from the patient.
QUICK RECOVERY FOR COMPLICATED PROCEDURES
Reducing both recovery time and the amount of time patients are in the hospital are two of the major advantages of the da Vinci®
Robotic Surgery System. Introduced
at Holmes Regional Medical Center late last year, the average hospital stay for patients has been cut in half, and recovery times have gone from being measured in weeks to just days. “We’re still doing the same procedures that
we’ve always done,” Dr. Bomalaski says, “but the da Vinci system allows us to do more complicated procedures laparoscopically without larger incisions that are required when I use my hands.” The da Vinci®
robotic system is a major
step forward in the already advanced world of laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic procedures involve using small mechanical arms inserted into small incisions. But until now, those mechanical arms were limited in how they could move. It would be as if you tried to use your own arms without bending your elbows or wrists. By contrast, the da Vinci®
system not only provides the full range
of motion, but also gives the surgeon a 3D view of what’s happening. “It’s just like using your own eyes with an open incision,” says Dr. Bomalaski. Dramatically reducing recovery times
also allows patients to more quickly receive critical medical treatments. In the past, cancer patients undergoing traditional surgery could require up to two months to recover after surgical removal of cancer before being able to undergo chemotherapy. The da Vinci® Robotic Surgery System can cut that recovery time to as little as two weeks. “We made the decision to be the first to bring this system to Brevard because of how dramatically it helps our patients,” says Elliot Cohen, a spokesman for Health First and Holmes Regional Medical Center. “We are the only locally based multi-hospital system in Brevard County, so that means 100 percent of our efforts are focused on local patients, local services and local health care. The da Vinci®
system is our way of showing that commitment.” Brevard County’s first robotic surgery was
performed at Holmes Regional Medical Center in August, and more than 40 procedures have been performed since then. The average hospital stay for robotic surgery patients has dropped from more than three days following traditional surgery to less than a day and a half for patients having da Vinci®
surgeries. The system is
currently being used primarily for urological and gynecological procedures, but that list is expected to grow as more surgeons at Holmes are trained on the new system.
THE EVOLUTION OF ROBOTIC SURGERY Robotic surgery was first introduced about 10
years ago, but early models were limited in what they were able to do. The U.S. military took an interest in the technology, wanting to explore whether robots could be used to perform surgeries on soldiers remotely in the battlefield. However, it became clear that it was more practical to develop better methods for safely moving wounded soldiers to the doctors rather than moving remote robots to the soldiers.
“We’re not doing a different type of surgery; we’re doing the same surgery with a
new tool.” – Dr. John Bomalaski of Health First Physicians
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Dr. John Bomalaski performs more complicated procedures with smaller incisions and quicker recovery times using the da Vinci®
Robotic Surgery System.
The technology has since made its way into operating rooms across the country as hospitals continue to embrace the idea that these high-tech systems provide tremendous advantages for their patients. Yet until Holmes Regional Medical Center introduced the system in Brevard County, patients wanting the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery needed to travel to Orlando. “If nothing else, the introduction of the da Vinci® system at Holmes Regional Medical Center further proves you don’t have to leave the Space Coast to find space-age advances in medicine,” says Cohen.
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