SAINT THOMAS HEALTH ADOPTS STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERIES, THE DAVINCI® XI SURGICAL SYSTEM
With 10 years of robotic surgical experience and almost 5,000 completed robotic surgical procedures, Saint Thomas Health has taken the next technological step available in health care today by adopting use of the daVinci® Xi Surgical System. The value of this advanced technology is not only improved surgical performance, but also it is less invasive to the patient than traditional open surgery, leading to better outcomes. This state-of-the-art technology uses advanced robotic, computer and optical technologies, including a 3D high definition vision system. Saint Thomas Health is part of Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic and non-profit health system.
“Being able to provide our physicians with the best resources to get the best outcomes for our patients is always our goal at Saint Thomas Health, and that’s what the daVinci® Xi Surgical System does,” said Carrie Teaford, Chief Operating Officer at Saint Thomas Midtown & West Hospitals. Use of the daVinci® Xi Surgical System means each surgery performed with these tools is minimally invasive as compared with traditional “open surgery.” The advantages to the patient of minimally invasive surgery include much smaller incisions, decreased blood loss, fewer complications, decreased need for narcotic pain medicine, a shorter hospital stay and an overall faster recovery.
“The new daVinci® Xi Surgical System offers many advantages to patients and surgeons of different specialties,” said Dr. Michael Stany, Gynecologic Oncologist at Saint Thomas Health. “Many cases can be done with fewer incisions, and operative time can be reduced. This technology allows more advanced surgical procedures to be performed.” The technology is used in minimally invasive surgery for complex diseases and conditions in gynecology, urology, thoracic, cardiac and general surgery, resulting in more patients being offered minimally invasive surgery than at any other time in history.
The daVinci® Xi Surgical System enables efficient access throughout the abdomen and chest and expands on previous technology to include wristed instruments, 3D-HD magnification so the surgeon has a close-up view of the operating area, intuitive motion and an ergonomic design. The daVinci instruments have mechanical wrists that bend and rotate to mimic the movements of the human wrist, allowing the surgeon to make small, precise movements inside the body with better stability.
For example, if a patient has robotic chest surgery instead of open chest surgery, he or she may not need a chest tube for as long. A faster recovery also means staying in the hospital for a shorter amount of time.
