Newswise — Bringing the latest breakthroughs in medicine closer to everyone, the public can now watch a live webcast of one of the latest technical advances in pediatric surgery.

During the hour-long webcast, Dr. Steven Rothenberg, Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Mother and Child Hospital at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center and a leader in the field of endoscopic surgery in infants and children, will perform the surgical procedure to treat a condition causing severe heartburn in a 12-year-old child, called a Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication. A physician moderator will provide commentary and viewers can email questions directly to Dr. Rothenberg in the operating room.

Karl Storz Endoscopy-America, Inc., a leading provider of high tech operating rooms, Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center (P/SL) and OR-Live.com, the web's largest resource of live and on-demand surgical video from leading international hospitals and medical universities, are partnering to launch a series of see-it-now webcasts starting this month on the latest techniques in minimally invasive surgery.

"This is an exciting new medical education initiative which allows the medical community as well as the general public with web-enabled computers to watch and learn from everything the surgical team does." said Dr. Rothenberg.

Because of unique advances by Karl Storz Endoscopy in developing its fully integrated operating room, known as OR-1® and now in place at P/SL, a tiny video camera will enable the entire surgical team " and anyone watching the webcast - to see endoscopic images of the patient along with any data called up by the surgeon on the operating room's touch-screen monitors.

On September 8, at 3:00 p.m. MDT (5:00 p.m. EDT), Dr. Rothenberg, will begin to surgically alleviate the backflow of acid from the young patient's stomach into the esophagus, better known as heartburn. This operation typically requires a large incision, used by the surgeon to wrap part of the stomach around the lower end of the esophagus to help keep acid from getting back up into the esophagus. For a child with this problem, where swallowing can be painful, Dr. Rothenberg developed a new, minimally invasive technique that enables him to make a tiny incision to enter the abdomen.

"The focus of the web broadcast is to break down geographic barriers and educate a much larger community of pediatricians, surgeons, pediatric residents, about this new minimally invasive surgical technique called Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication," said Dr. Rothenberg. "Upon completion, the child's recovery is expected to be quicker and, as in the vast majority of such cases, can eliminate the need for acid reflux medication. By opening the surgery to the public, parents with children suffering from gastro-esophageal reflux disease can also learn about this new surgical technique."

Broadcasting the latest medical advances on the Internet is also expected to help speed the adoption of new minimally invasive procedures, which can often be completed with less trauma to patients, leading to shortened hospitals stays, fewer pain medications and faster recovery times. Moreover, these advanced procedures usually take less time to complete than standard operations, which often involve extensive cutting to gain access to organs and other body parts, and may impair the function of some tendons and muscles.

This "previewing" of an operation also enables patients to become better informed about the medical process and how state-of-the-art medicine is practiced. Future live minimally invasive surgery webcasts, from Presbyterian/St. Luke's Hospital, in the Karl Storz Endoscopy series will run on October 6 when surgeons perform a Video- Assisted Thoracoscopy Lung Resection, followed by an Imperforate Anus Pull-Through Procedure on November 3.

About Karl Storz Endoscopy-America, Inc.

Karl Storz Endoscopy-America, Inc., is an affiliate of Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG, an international leader for 60 years in reusable endoscope technology, encompassing all endoscopic specialties. Based in Tuttlingen, Germany, Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG, is a family-owned company that designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all its products with an emphasis on visionary design, precision craftsmanship and clinical effectiveness.

About Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center

For 125 years, P/SL has been meeting the healthcare needs of patients and their families from across the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions, and from around the world. With over 80 specialties, 1,000 specialists and primary care physicians, and 1,600 employees, P/SL is the only quaternary care hospital in a seven state region that offers one campus with comprehensive care. Licensed for 680 beds, P/SL is the largest hospital in Colorado.

The public can watch the live webcast (3 p.m. MDT, 5 p.m. EDT )after registering at http://KarlStorzOR1Network.com

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