Advances in Robotic Surgery at Intermountain Health Provide New Benefits, Improves Outcomes for Patients

Robotics has transformed the field of surgery and offers several benefits for the patients and the surgeons at Intermountain Health and other providers around the world.

“Robotic surgery allows for more surgeries to be done in a minimally invasive way,” said Richard Matern, MD, urologic surgeon and Intermountain Health’s associate medical director for robotic integration. “It’s state-of-the-art technology that’s a game changer – improving patient experiences and ensuring good clinical outcomes.”

Robotic assisted laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgery that allows surgeons to operate in relatively less accessible areas of the body and with a magnified view of the surgical field, providing maximum dexterity.

Although robotic surgeries are not new, Intermountain Health has recently launched the da Vinci XI- robotic assisted surgical system at two additional community hospitals (Intermountain Spanish Fork and Intermountain Park City Hospital) and at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. Intermountain also added a second robotic system at Intermountain Logan Regional Hospital and a third robotic system at Intermountain LDS Hospital and Intermountain Medical Center to improve access for surgeons and patients where robotic surgeries have been taking place.

The da Vinci XI robotic assisted surgical system is used for minimally-invasive surgical procedures for gynecologic, urologic, thoracic, cardiac, and general surgical patients.

How Does Robotic Surgery Work?

Though despite the term “robotic,” robots do not perform the surgeries. A surgeon performs the procedures using instruments that are guided via a fiber linked console.

The surgeon makes small incisions on the patient’s abdominal or chest area for placing ports for the camera and robotic arms. Once the robot is docked, and the instruments are guided carefully into the surgical field.

The surgeon sits at a master console in the operating room. Using real-time magnified HD-3D view of the operative field, the surgeon’s hand movements are precisely replicated by the robotic instruments in the surgical field.

“With the precision-centric approach of robotics, radical procedures can be performed with the preservation of nerves, arteries and other critical structures without compromising treatment outcomes,” said Dr. Matern.

The robot is also beneficial for the surgeons, as it re-establishes good hand-eye coordination, provides better ergonomics, and makes instrument operation more natural than laparoscopic procedures.

Other kinds of minimally invasive operations have been done for decades, such as laparoscopic surgery to remove a gall bladder, where doctors use small incisions and directly control long-handled instruments and a fiber optic camera.

“However, there’s much greater dexterity with a robotic system than with conventional laparoscopic instruments,” said Dr. Matern. “This makes it possible to do more challenging and complex operations, but still minimally invasive.”

Advantages of Robotic Surgery for the Patient

“After surgery patients typically have a shorter hospital stay, recovery time, and get home quicker to be with their families and return to normal activities,” said Dr. Matern.

Other advantages for patients:

• Shorter hospitalization
• Reduced pain and discomfort
• Faster recovery time and return to normal activities
• Smaller incisions, resulting in reduced risk of infection
• Reduced blood loss and need for transfusions
• Minimal scarring
• Fewer opioid pain medications required

Go here for more information, and talk to your surgeon to see if your procedure is done robotically.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.