THE DA VINCI: A MINIMALLY INVASIVE ROBOT

Global Surgical System

The use of robots in a surgical setting was initially theorized in 1967, but it would take another 30 years for the first fully developed multipurpose surgical robotic system to be created Currently, the most common and available surgical system is “Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s Da Vinci Surgical System, which is found in operating rooms across the globe,” including the OU Department of Surgery.

In 2000, the Da Vinci Surgery Center became the first robotic surgery system approved by the FDA. According to Colorectal Surgeon Dr. Steven Carter, the Da Vinci is “a surgical system that basically allows us to make small incisions and have three-dimensional viewing with wrist articulation that allows us to do really complex surgeries that we could not do with the laparoscope before ”

Dr Carter explained that the Da Vinci is specifically useful for deep pelvic surgery The medical professional said he was one of the first surgeons in the Department to utilize the Da Vinci and the first robotic surgery performed at OU was around 2014.

"(Robotic surgery) has really taken off in the last five years,” Dr. Carter said. “Initially we were doing a handful of robotic surgeries here and there but now with all of us I think we’re doing more in a week than we would have done in a year back in 2014.”

Various surgeries are performed with the Da Vinci including hernia repairs, complex pelvic surgeries such as ileoanal anastomosis or j-pouches, esophagectomies, gallbladder repairs, and more.

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Currently, there are about seven Da Vinci Surgical System machines utilized by the Department of Surgery Dr Carter said the department has the latest model of the system which is about five years old

There are numerous ways in which the Da Vinci has improved the medical field but perhaps the most beneficial is the postoperative treatment of patients.

Dr. Carter explained surgeries performed in the past would have a week’s worth of recovery time for patients whereas now patients “wake up the next day and go home It’s just amazing,” Carter stated

Prior to the invention of the Da Vinci and other robotic surgical systems, Carter explained the use of the laparoscope made it difficult to perform complex surgeries. “The old fashion way was laparoscopy and you really couldn’t do anything in the pelvis area well.”

The Da Vinci, however, enables a surgeon to make small incisions and have positive resections and successful cancer surgeries “It lets the patients wake up with just little poke holes and it’s a really nice surgery,” Dr. Cater said.

Those utilizing the Da Vinci are able to structures, nerves, and other areas of the body that aren’t accessible during open surgery. “It’s just amazing,” Dr. Carter said

Surgeons use this device to operate and control the

Medical professionals who work with the Da Vinci spend a considerable amount of time training and learning how to operate the various parts of the machine.

Dr. Carter explained doctors are required to take a course in which they learn the inner workings and uses of the robot “You have to be an expert in your (practice) and then you go to the course to learn how the machine works and safety stuff and then you do surgeries with a proctor ”

Practice makes perfect when becoming acquainted with the Da Vinci. “You have to do surgeries on your own several times to become really proficient at it,” Dr. Carter confirmed.

These days, Dr Carter explained, the training process for the Da Vinci is simpler as residents have opportunities to utilize the machine in during their residency and eventually become experts on the robot through that hands-on learning.

“Now we teach them how to do it and they are so much more advanced than we are,” Dr Carter said. Dr. Carter explained the Da Vinci is on a rotating boon that moves fluidly throughout the operation.

“There are arms on the robot and it connects to these ports that go in the patient’s abdomen,” Dr Carter said “There’s a console in the room and you can sit at it and control all these arms while you’re in the console ”

Dr. Carter is an expert on the use of the Da Vinci Surgical System as he has completed around 400 different surgeries with the machine.

“The patients just do better It’s the difference between waking up with a two-foot incision on your stomach versus six eight-millimeter incisions It’s a dramatic change,” Dr Carter said

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