Robotic-assisted surgeries: new innovations at the UI Medical Center
Erica Emmerich
Issue date: 1/21/08 Section: Pulse
Media Credit: Futurefeeder.comThree robotic arms maneuver small surgical devices through centimeter long incisions making surgery less invasive and healing time faster.
The UI Medical Center is the first in the United States to utilize a robotic-assisted technique to repair a renal arterial aneurysm by harvesting a vein from the patient's leg.
Jacqueline Jemison, 58, required surgical repair of a renal arterial aneurysm while at the hospital for an assessment as a kidney donor to a family member. Harvesting a vein from Jemison's own leg to repair the aneurysm involved a low risk of rejection, called an auto-graft.
Dr. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti, chief of the division of general, minimally invasive and robotic surgery and president of the Minimally Invasive and Robotic Association (MIRA), and Dr. Fabio Sbrana, assistant professor of surgery, successfully repaired the renal arterial aneurysm without having to remove the kidney, as traditionally necessary to access the aneurysm.
Jemison's renal arterial aneurysm formed resulting from a weakening of the artery wall, forming a distention or enlargement in the artery. Many people with this type of aneurysm do not have any symptoms. If Jemison were not diagnosed, she may have developed a life-threatening complication such as bursting of the artery wall, causing death.
"Visceral aneurysms are more difficult to diagnose than the more commonly known - yet just as dangerous - aortic aneurysms," said Sbrana. "Patients often do not have any symptoms and they are not detected during routine medical evaluations."
An aneurysm as Jemison had, along with many other conditions in organs requiring surgery, were previously highly invasive and potentially life-threatening to patients. Surgeries on organs such as the pancreas, liver, stomach and esophagus required large incisions that ranged up to 12 inches in length. The large amount of tissue being incised made the healing duration lengthy and left patients vulnerable to infection.
The da Vinci Surgical System is minimally invasive, with smaller incisions from about 3.5 to four inches in length. Only tiny surgical devices enter the incisions, along with a laparoscopic camera that creates an image displayed on a screen in a three-dimensional fashion. The surgical instruments are guided by robotic arms controlled by the physician from a remote device. The technique allows the physician's intricate movements from the remote to be mimicked by the robotic arms.
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Jacqueline Jemison, 58, required surgical repair of a renal arterial aneurysm while at the hospital for an assessment as a kidney donor to a family member. Harvesting a vein from Jemison's own leg to repair the aneurysm involved a low risk of rejection, called an auto-graft.
Dr. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti, chief of the division of general, minimally invasive and robotic surgery and president of the Minimally Invasive and Robotic Association (MIRA), and Dr. Fabio Sbrana, assistant professor of surgery, successfully repaired the renal arterial aneurysm without having to remove the kidney, as traditionally necessary to access the aneurysm.
Jemison's renal arterial aneurysm formed resulting from a weakening of the artery wall, forming a distention or enlargement in the artery. Many people with this type of aneurysm do not have any symptoms. If Jemison were not diagnosed, she may have developed a life-threatening complication such as bursting of the artery wall, causing death.
"Visceral aneurysms are more difficult to diagnose than the more commonly known - yet just as dangerous - aortic aneurysms," said Sbrana. "Patients often do not have any symptoms and they are not detected during routine medical evaluations."
An aneurysm as Jemison had, along with many other conditions in organs requiring surgery, were previously highly invasive and potentially life-threatening to patients. Surgeries on organs such as the pancreas, liver, stomach and esophagus required large incisions that ranged up to 12 inches in length. The large amount of tissue being incised made the healing duration lengthy and left patients vulnerable to infection.
The da Vinci Surgical System is minimally invasive, with smaller incisions from about 3.5 to four inches in length. Only tiny surgical devices enter the incisions, along with a laparoscopic camera that creates an image displayed on a screen in a three-dimensional fashion. The surgical instruments are guided by robotic arms controlled by the physician from a remote device. The technique allows the physician's intricate movements from the remote to be mimicked by the robotic arms.
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