Medicine’s da Vinci® Masterpiece at Trident Medical Center

The da Vinci® Surgical System is a minimally invasive system which offers multiple benefits for patients and provides surgeons with a technologically advanced tool that makes it easier to achieve results. It is currently available at Trident Medical Center for prostatectomy, (or removal of a cancerous prostate gland and surrounding affected tissue), and for gynecological surgery, (hysterectomy—removal of the uterus or other reproductive organs; myomectomy – removal of uterine fibroids; and sacrocolpopexy – repair of uterine or vaginal vault prolapse.  
The da Vinci® Surgical System consists of a viewing console and robotic viewing with operating arms that enable surgeons to perform intricate procedures. The system uses small incisions rather than the large opening required for traditional surgery. The da Vinci® Surgical System assists the surgeon, who controls every aspect of the procedure, by providing enhanced images and supporting precise surgical movements. The robotic technology also reduces tremor, therefore minimizing opportunities for human error when compared with traditional approaches to surgery.  Surgeons undergo rigorous training in order to operate using this system.
“With the da Vinci®, magnified images allow us to see in great detail,” says Christine Case, M.D., a surgeon with Trident Health System. “These surgical tools allow us to operate more precisely than we can during traditional gynecological surgeries.”  
For most patients, choosing the da Vinci® surgery option means minimal scarring, reduced surgical blood loss, a shorter hospital stay, decreased risk for infection, less pain and a much quicker recovery time.
“In comparison with the large incisions involved in conventional abdominal surgery, the da Vinci® conducts complex procedures through one- to two-centimeter incisions or ports,” explains Dr. Case. “As a result, recovery is much faster, so you can get back to your normal activities in days rather than weeks.”
Conventional laparoscopy requires the surgeon to operate while standing and using hand-held instruments which do not have wrists.  This method means the surgeon must look up and away from the instruments to a video monitor to see an image of the surgical site.  But da Vinci® allows the surgeon to operate from a seated position at the system’s console, with eyes and hands positioned in line with the instruments.  It also allows for the instruments used in surgery to be articulated 720 degrees rather than 360 degrees, as is often the case with most conventional laparoscopic instruments, according to Dr. Ted Brisson, a urologist with Trident Health System who performs da Vinci® surgeries at Trident Medical Center.
 “The da Vinci® System means that patients have available to them a surgical option for prostate cancer that is arguably becoming the surgical standard for care,” Dr. Brisson said, adding that Intuitive Surgical (the maker of da Vinci®) estimates that 80 percent of prostatectomies in the US will be performed robotically in 2009.  “Finally, it means the residents of Charleston have the option to have this surgery in one day, spend one night in the hospital and be back in their home the following afternoon.”