What are the Advantages of Laparoscopic & Robotic Procedures
In a traditional open procedure, a large incision is made to the abdominal area to expose the tissues and structures inside for exploration and procedures. By performing the surgery laparoscopically and robotically, Dr. Albrecht only needs to make a small incision of up to 1.5 cm in length, thus providing many benefits versus open procedures including the following:
- Reduced risk of bleeding during surgery
- Reduced risk of pain and bleeding after surgery, thus typically requiring less post-operation medication
- Less painful healing process
- Smaller scar
- Reduced risk of infection
- Shorter hospital stay (some patients even receive a same-day or next-day discharge)
- Quicker return to one’s normal routine
What is Robotic Surgery?
Robotic surgery is another laparoscopic procedure but with the additional assistance of technology. Guided by the robotic arms, the surgeon is able to perform surgery without directly moving the instruments. The procedure is done while seated at the control console, which is just a few feet from the patient. The surgeon views the procedure via a highly magnified, 3D image of the inside of the patient. The surgeon performs the surgery using ergonomic finger controls that move both the camera and robotic instruments in real-time. Robotic surgery performed using tools such as tiny tweezers and scissors, and while the tools are no larger than the size of a fingernail, to the surgeon, the magnified view allows them to appear to be much larger.
Additional Benefits of Robotic Surgery:
- True 3D view
The small scope used during the procedure contains two lenses, each sending an image back to its respective camera, thus giving the surgeon views from multiple angles. - Increased surgeon control
With robotic surgery, Dr. Albrecht controls all camera movements as well as the movements of each instrument. - Scaled movement
The robotic instruments move proportionately smaller distances in the body than the actual movement of the hands of the surgeon controlling the console nearby. This added level of precision allows Dr. Albrecht to perform surgery with even greater accuracy (because of the magnified view) than without the robotic assistance.