Thursday, July 28, 2016

Important Facts On Robotic Assisted Surgery Houston Residents Should Know

By Margaret Myers


In the last few years, there have been great advances in techniques employed in surgery. The aim of all this progress is to reduce operative risk and to increase the chances of getting favorable outcomes. The entry of robotic assisted surgery is one of the developments that has helped achieve this objective. It is a technique that has been received with enthusiasm and is now being used for a variety of operations. There are a number of things regarding robotic assisted surgery Houston patients need to know.

In general, the robot technique is an improvement of other minimally invasive methods of operation such as laparoscopy. It provides greater precision than the conventional endoscopic technique while still giving the surgeon the ability to see their field of operation as clearly as possible. Due to the very small incisions that are used here, the risk of complications is markedly reduced.

The main feature of the robotic technique that differentiate it from other techniques is the fact that the surgeon does not handle the instruments directly. Robotic arms are designed to do this. The surgeon exerts control over the robot using a computer or a special piece of equipment known as a telemanipulator. The latter is designed to transmit hands movements made by the surgeon to the robotic arms.

There have been significant improvements to the technology since it was first used. For instance, images are now transmitted from the surgical field using endoscopic cameras in 3-D. This makes things clearer for the surgeon and is closer to what they would see if they were using the open surgical option. Another development is that it is now possible for a surgeon to perfume an operation remotely. In theory, they could be hundreds of miles away.

There are a number of centers that have incorporated aspects of robotic technique into the traditional open surgery. When this is done, the operation will be referred to as enhanced open technique. The robot may be used to retract structures such as ribs. Its advantage over the manual method is that the force required can be controlled with greater precision hence a lower risk of trauma to tissues.

There are many different operations that can be conducted using this approach. They include hernia repair, coronary artery bypass procedure, heart valve repair, tubal ligation, hysterectomy, prostatectomy, lymph node biopsies and so on. This list is set to grow as the technique is improved further. One of the factors that may be causing slow uptake include lack of equipment and inadequate training among healthcare workers.

In spite of the high level of computerization (and precision) associated with the technique, risks for complications still exist. Complications that may be encountered during the operation include excessive blood loss and injury to other organs (such as the intestines, the solid organs, major blood vessels and nerves). Infections may set in during the postoperative period. The overall risk is lower than that associated with the other methods.

There is a need to emphasize that robot assisted operations are not conducted by the robot. Rather, they are carried out by a surgeon with help from the robot. Another way of looking at it is that the robotic arms act as an extension of the hands of the surgeon. It is important for one to undergo comprehensive evaluation before they can be subjected to surgery to establish whether they can be operated using the technique.




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