The da Vinci Surgical System provides surgeons and patients with what may be the most effective, least invasive treatment option for even the most complex cardiac surgeries. The potential benefits include reduced risk of infection, less blood loss and need for blood transfusions, a shorter hospital stay, less pain and scarring and a faster recovery and return to normal activities.
General Surgery
UofL Health performs a wide variety of general surgical procedures both with laparoscopic surgery and the da Vinci, including:
- Colorectal lower anterior resections
- Endoscopic sinus procedures
- Gallbladder surgery
- Lap-Band surgery
- Lap Nissen Fundoplication (for GERD)
- Nephrectomies
- Tubal ligation
- Video-assisted thoracoscopy
Ask your doctor if minimally invasive surgery is right for you. For more information about scheduling a minimally invasive procedure, call 1-800-333-2230.
Kidney Surgery
A wide variety of conditions may affect a person’s urologic system, which consists of the kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder and urethra. These conditions include but are not limited to cancers like bladder cancer, kidney cancer and benign conditions like ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction and vesicoureteral reflux.
When medication and other non-surgical treatments are either unavailable or cannot relieve symptoms, surgery is the accepted treatment for a broad range of conditions that affect the organs of the urinary tract, such as removal of the kidneys due to blockage of the ureters or kidney cancer.
Until recently, kidney removal could only be accomplished through a surgical procedure called open or partial nephrectomies. This procedure requires a large, muscle-cutting abdominal incision, removal of a rib and a relatively long hospital stay and recovery period. However, advances in minimally invasive surgery have made advanced surgical procedures possible, such as laparoscopic surgery and the da Vinci® Surgical System.
Both laparoscopic and da Vinci Surgery techniques use state-of-the-art technology to help your doctor perform a more precise operation than conventional surgery allows. Several potential benefits are offered over conventional open surgery, including:
- Significantly less pain
- Less blood loss
- Fewer transfusions
- Less risk of infection
- Less scarring
- Shorter hospital stay and recovery time
- Increased potential for kidney preservation in certain prescribed cancer operations
- Better clinical outcomes, in many cases
For additional information on minimally invasive surgery both laparoscopically and with the da Vinci Surgical System at UofL Health, please call 1-800-333-2230.
Colon Surgery
Surgery is a common treatment for a range of benign conditions and cancers affecting either the colon – also called the large intestine or large bowel - or rectum. A colorectal procedure called large bowel resection, or colectomy is used to treat many of these conditions and consists of removing all or part of the large bowel or colon.
Today, the vast majority of colorectal procedures are still performed via a large abdominal incision that often extends from the pubic bone to just below the sternum. Open colorectal surgery can be quite painful, involving an increased risk of complications including infection and requiring an extended hospital stay.
A recent study found that between 2003 and 2004, less than four percent of colorectal surgery in the U.S. was performed using a minimally invasive technique. The study of the largest all-payer inpatient care database in the United States comparing open and laparoscopic (minimally invasive) colorectal surgery found that laparoscopic surgery was associated with a lower rate of complications as compared with open resection (18% vs. 22%); a shorter length of stay (6 vs. 7.6 days); a reduced need for skilled care after surgery (5% vs. 11%), and a lower mortality rate (0.6% vs. 1.4%).
Fortunately, there are now more minimally invasive surgical options for colorectal cancer and a range of benign conditions affecting the colon and rectum.
Both the da Vinci and laparoscopic surgery methods for colorectal cancer and benign conditions use state-of-the-art technology to help doctors perform a more precise operation than conventional instrumentation allows.
For most patients, da Vinci and laparoscopic surgery offer numerous benefits over open surgery, including:
- Better clinical outcomes for cancer control in many cases (2):
- Quicker return to bowel function (2)
- Quicker return to a normal diet (2)
- Significantly less pain
- Less blood loss
- Less risk of wound infection
- Shorter hospital stay
- Shorter recovery time
By overcoming the limitations of traditional open surgery, both the da Vinci and laparoscopic procedures offer patients surgery that is less invasive, more precise and provides a faster recovery.
While surgical resection to treat colorectal conditions is a relatively safe procedure, it may not be appropriate or necessary for all individuals and conditions. Always ask your doctor about all treatment options, as well as their risks and benefits.
For more information on da Vinci and laparoscopic surgery at UofL Health, please call 1-800-333-2230.
2. Hellan M, Anderson C, Blenhom JD, Paz B, Pigazzi A. Short-Term Outcomes After Robotic-Assisted Total Mesorectal Excision for Rectal Cancer. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 200710;1245
Total Joint Replacement Surgery
Is an injury or pain in your joints causing you to not fully experience life? At UofL Health, minimally invasive joint replacement procedures are being used every day to help patients begin moving again. For more information about scheduling a procedure, call 1-800-333-2230.
Joint program
Focusing on a complete joint program that includes outstanding patient care, we strive to assist patients with non-operative methods before surgery. Patients are first evaluated for treatment with non-steroidal medications, physical therapy and visco-supplementation prior to considering surgical procedures. If surgery is a must, minimally invasive procedures are looked to first and are individualized based on the specific needs of each patient.
Minimally invasive joint replacement
Minimally invasive methods such as total knee replacements and hip replacements involve the use of smaller incisions than those used in traditional surgeries. Because there is less damage to the tissue, patients who undergo these procedures may expect a shorter hospital stay, a shorter recovery and a better-looking scar.
All minimally invasive joint surgeries performed at UofL Health are centered on a technique known as muscle-sparing. No muscles are cut during muscle-sparing – they are merely separated or avoided. Because the incision is smaller and no muscle needs to be repaired, recovery is faster and less painful with these cutting-edge techniques.
State-of-the-art implants such as titanium, chrome-cobalt, ceramics and cross-link polyethylene parts are used in every procedure. Each patient receives individualized care based on their needs with respect to the approach and implants used. The joint replacement team includes anesthesiologists that specialize in post-operative pain management skills to provide a more comfortable experience during the hospital stay.
Therapists see patients during their hospital stay for gait training and functions of daily living. Most patients are typically discharged in two to three days after surgery, once basic therapy goals are achieved.
Joint replacement team
A premier orthopedic and joint replacement hospital network, our physicians are leaders in the field who train other doctors in these advanced surgical methods. Their goal is to improve a patient’s quality of life by providing state-of-the-art techniques and implants coupled with a comfortable hospital experience.
Ask your doctor if minimally invasive orthopedic surgery is right for you. For more information about scheduling a procedure, call 1-800-333-2230.
Heart Surgery
Open heart surgery is generally the most effective way to treat these cardiovascular disorders, but traditional open surgery has a number of drawbacks caused primarily by sternotomies, or the splitting of the breastbone and spreading of the ribs to access the chest cavity. In addition to an 8" to 10” scar down the center of the chest, a sternotomy leads to long recovery times.
With minimally invasive techniques, small incisions can be made between the ribs to perform coronary bypass or make repairs to the heart or esophagus by using thoracoscopy – the insertion of a miniaturized video camera between the ribs. However, this approach has limitations and is not often appropriate for more complex cardiac procedures.
UofL Health offers multiple minimally invasive options for more advanced cardiothoracic procedures including, but not limited to, the da Vinci® Surgical System, the Stereotaxis GentleTouch™ Magnetic System and transcatheter aortic valve replacement. These procedures access the heart through small incisions and avoid opening the chest cavity.
Stereotaxis GentleTouch System
UofL Hospital - Jewish is also the only facility in Louisville offering groundbreaking cardiovascular procedures with the Stereotaxis GentleTouch System.
The Stereotaxis GentleTouch System allows doctors the ability to view the inside of the heart, both anatomically and electrically, through computerized catheter-based interventional procedures.
Treating complex cardiovascular procedures requires very precise digital reconstructions, or maps, of the heart. In order to create these maps, the tip of a catheter has to be accurately guided to more than a hundred different locations in a heart chamber.
Stiff manual catheters can “tent” or distort the wall of the heart. In the worst cases, the excessive force from the catheter can puncture or perforate the heart wall, a potentially lethal complication. The soft-touch of Stereotaxis’ GentleTouch catheters can reconstruct cardiac anatomy precisely without distorting the shape of the heart wall.
Physicians can perform these Stereotaxis image-guided heart procedures with precise remote instrument control, combining robotics and a 3-D mapping system to correct heart conditions more effectively.
The Stereotaxis technology provides shorter procedure times, less exposure to X-ray radiation, a reduction in contrast dyes injected into blood vessels and the reduced likelihood of referral to heart surgery.
