Adirondack Health has expanded its surgical capabilities with acquisition of the state-of-the-art da Vinci Surgical System by Intuitive Surgical, bringing advanced, minimally invasive procedures to patients in the North Country.
Urologist Jonathan Riddell, M.D., FRCS, was a huge proponent of bringing the da Vinci toAdirondack Health. He has performed more than 400 pediatric and adult urologist cases with the da Vinci robot system over the past decade. His first surgery with Adirondack Health’s da Vinci was conducted in January and since then, several Adirondack Health surgeons -- including Dr. Michael Hill and Dr. Emily Szczech -- have utilized the da Vinci to perform their own surgeries.
“The daVinci has transformed laparoscopy,” Dr. Riddell said. “This robotic platform allows you to perform very complex operations in a minimally invasive fashion –operations which previously required open surgery with large incisions.”
Dr. Riddell said when a surgeon uses a traditional laparoscopic instrument, they can insert it, move it left, right, up and down, and rotate it, providing four degrees of freedom. With the da Vinci, the instruments are wristed (a joint that mimics the human wrist, allowing the tool to move with greater precision and flexibility), giving surgeons seven degrees of freedom to manipulate and reconstruct tissue.
“With three small port site incisions, less than one centimeter, I’m able to look inside a patient and reconstruct a kidney or bladder whereas before it would have otherwise been a large incision,” Dr. Riddell said. “So, patients can go home on the same day or next post-operative day but still benefit from the precision of an open reconstructive technique due to robotic visualization and control.”
By utilizing the da Vinci to perform these surgeries laparoscopically, Dr. Riddell said patients require much shorter hospital stays and experience less pain and less scarring.
The daVinci consists of a surgeon’s console and a cart with several interactive robot arms controlled by the surgeon’s console. The robotic arms hold objects, and can act as scalpels, scissors, cautery tools, or graspers while another arm controls the 3D cameras.
The surgeon uses the controls of the console to maneuver the cart’s robotic arms. The small, wristed instruments move like a human hand, but with increased range of motion. It provides surgeons with a high-definition three-dimensional view of the surgical area and the small instrument size allow them to operate through one of a few small incisions, so it’s much less invasive for patients.
Dr. Michael Hill has been utilizing the da Vinci robot for several of his surgeries, such as hernia repairs. He said the da Vinci also enhances the surgeon’s physical experience by reducing strain on their body, allowing them to perform precise, minimally invasive procedures with greater comfort and less fatigue through ergonomic controls and magnified 3-D visualization.
“You read about the physical ailments of surgeons over time, and this will help prolong our surgeons’ surgical lifespans,” Dr. Hill said. “The ergonomics are very relaxed with the console.”
“It’s hard on your body when you’re standing at an awkward angle for hours at a time during a traditional surgery,” Dr. Riddell said. “The ergonomics of the robot promote the best possible position for the surgeon, so they’re sharp and less fatigued.”
The surgeons credited our operating room staff with making the robotic experience top notch.
“Our surgical team here has done an amazing job, allowing Adirondack Health to flawlessly incorporate robotic surgery,” Dr. Riddell said. “We put in a lot of preparation and it paid off greatly. These robots allow us to provide the latest and greatest in technology for our patients here, along with care is both personal and professional.”
The daVinci robot’s arrival at Adirondack Health coincided with the arrival of another surgical robot by Intuitive Surgical – the Ion Robotic Bronchoscopy system. With the Ion, surgeons use a small scope to reach the farthest corners of the lungs to detect cancers in the earliest, most treatable stages. The procedure is also less invasive than a traditional bronchoscopy, so patients recover more quickly and can often return to their normal activities the next day.
These advanced surgical robots help attract surgeons by offering them leading-edge technology.
“Many surgeons learn on robots while they’re in (residency training) now, so it’s attractive to prospective surgeons for our hospital to have one,” Dr. Hill said. “It can change everything in terms of recruitment.”
“Adding these surgical robots is a huge gain on our recruitment side,” Dr. Riddell said. “It’s a great tool to bring younger surgeons here.”
Adirondack Health CEO Aaron Kramer said Adirondack Health is committed not only to providing the best care for our patients today but also investing in the future of that care.
“The arrival of the Ion and the da Vinci surgical systems advances our technology, improving outcomes and ensuring our patients have access to the most innovative treatments available.” Kramer said.
