Newswise — DENVER (Feb. 23, 2012) – Taking advantage of another breakthrough in robotic surgery, a surgeon at Porter Adventist Hospital is among the first in the country and is the first in the Rocky Mountain Region to perform a robotically-assisted removal of the gallbladder through a single small incision.
Each year, about one million people in the U.S will undergo gallbladder removal surgery. Of that number, 40 percent of these patients are women, ages 18 to 44. Thanks to this latest advance, patients can now have their gallbladder removed and be home in a few short hours with minimal discomfort and potentially no visible scar.
Warren Kortz, MD, a general surgeon and a member of the Porter Robotics Institute, recently performed the robotic-assisted cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal surgery) using a single incision through the belly button. Porter is one of just twenty sites across the country to offer this groundbreaking surgery made possible through a new FDA-approved single-site advancement to the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System.
“This new technique offers even greater advantages to patients having gallbladder removal,” Dr. Kortz said. “Robotic-assisted surgery has been a great option for patients, but now we can do an entire gallbladder procedure using just one small, cosmetically hidden incision. It is easier on the patient and the technology provides better surgical skill.”
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. received FDA-approval on the new operating platform for the da Vinci® Surgical System specifically for cholecystectomy procedures. The system enables surgeons to reduce the traditional number of incisions from four small incisions to one incision that is an inch in length and cosmetically hidden at the belly button.
“We’ll be able to use this technology for other surgical procedures in the future,” Kortz added. “The instrumentation and the vision system are constantly being improved, and we can expect to see even greater benefits for patients and surgeons.”
Surgeons at Porter Adventist Hospital use the da Vinci System for a variety of minimally invasive robotic surgical procedures, including general, abdominal, urological, gynecological, and complex head and neck surgery. For more information about conditions and procedures offered through the Porter Robotics Institute, visit http://www.porterhospital.org/roboticsurgery or call 303-715-7PRI (7774).
About Porter Adventist Hospital Porter Adventist Hospital is a full service, Nursing Magnet® designated, 368-bed acute-care referral center for complex medicine and surgery patients. In addition to being ranked No. 1 for 2010 in overall cardiac care in Colorado by a national hospital reporting company, Porter specializes in cancer care, joint replacement, spinal care, advanced robotic surgery and organ transplantation. Porter is sponsored by Adventist Health System and is connected to Centura Health, Colorado’s health care leader, and its integrated statewide network of 13 hospitals, seven senior living communities, medical clinics, affiliated partner hospitals, Flight For Life® Colorado, and home care and hospice services. Together, Porter and Centura Health provide care that transcends the walls of a hospital. Connections that only Centura Health can make. For more information about Porter Adventist Hospital, visit www.porterhospital.org or the Media Room at http://porter.mediaroom.com.
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