Has your surgeon told you that you’re scheduled for robotic surgery? It may sound like science fiction, but robotic-assisted surgery is now becoming standard practice for many types of operations.
At Turnquest Surgical Solutions, our board-certified bariatric and general surgeons, Dexter Turnquest, MD, and Victoria C. Chang, MD, frequently use robotic surgery for treating a wide range of conditions, from prostate cancer to heart disease to obesity.
Don’t worry; your surgeon is still in charge.
Robots are mainstream in American life. You find them in construction, manufacturing, agriculture, other industries, and, yes, in surgery. Robotic surgery offers us extreme precision that humans can’t match in the operating room. Isn’t that what you want?
To begin the operation, we make tiny incisions in your skin and insert small instruments that glide through a small tube to the surgical site. As surgeons, we control the robot from a computer and see the surgical site on a computer screen.
Following are five important benefits of robotic surgery.
One of the key features of robotic surgery is a 3D camera that provides powerful magnification of the surgical site. We have high-definition views that promote more precision during your surgery.
Because the treatment area is magnified many times, we can see the area more clearly than during traditional surgery. We can guide the robotic arm to the exact place it needs to be.
The robot’s motions are more exact and steadier than any human hand, so you don’t have to worry about any accidental slip.
In addition, the robotic arm has a greater range of motion than a human hand, arm, or fingers, so it can get into tight spots much more easily than we can alone.
Robotic-assisted surgery has brought benefits not only to patients but also to surgeons. Instead of standing for extended periods, which can cause fatigue, the surgeon can sit for parts of the operation while guiding the robotic arm at a computer console.
Greater precision during the surgery benefits both you and your doctor.
Your robotic surgery may be done via laparoscopy rather than traditional open surgery, which requires larger incisions.
During laparoscopic robotic surgery, we’re able to manipulate very small instruments to perform the operation. The smaller incisions in laparoscopic procedures mean less bleeding and smaller scarring.
Because your incisions are tiny, you experience less pain than you would with larger incisions, so your recovery is faster.
Because your wounds are very small, you have less risk of infection than with a large incision. Postoperative infections are painful and can set back your recovery.
You’ll sail through your robotic surgery with Turnquest Surgical Solutions. Call our office or book an appointment online.
