WARREN CLINIC SPECIALTY SPOTLIGHT
Warren Clinic general surgeons include (left to right): Steven Feher, MD; Guido Sclabas, MD; John King, MD; Samuel Pangburn, DO; and Patrick Ross, MD
The physicians of Warren Clinic General Surgery in Tulsa, McAlester and Muskogee offer a wide range of procedures and unique expertise. With stateof-the-art surgical suites at Saint Francis Hospital as well as advanced surgical technologies, such as the daVinci™ robotic surgical system, available at regional sites, Saint Francis is proud to serve eastern Oklahoma and all those who call it home.
62
saintfrancis.com
“General surgery” is a term you have heard but may not know exactly what it entails. Dr. Samuel Pangburn says general surgery procedures are focused on the area from approximately the neck to the hip. This includes gastrointestinal surgery, thyroid removal, appendectomies, hernia repair and lung surgery. “As far as surgeries go, we have everything covered,” says Dr. Pangburn, an Oklahoma native who grew up in Ponca City. “We probably do twice as many procedures as the average surgeon does. Saint Francis Health System ensures that we have access to the best technology and that every part of the process is patientcentered.” Dr. Pangburn says about 90 percent of his procedures are done with robotics. With robotic-assisted surgery, surgeons need to only make a few short incisions instead of a single long incision that open surgery requires.
The advantages of minimally invasive robotic surgery may include: • less pain and blood loss; • less scarring; • reduced trauma; • shorter hospital stay; and • quicker recovery.
From the general to the specific. Most general surgeons have expertise with specific diseases or conditions of the body. Dr. Pangburn, for example, receives many referrals for his skill in hernia repair and colon surgery, among other procedures. For pancreatic and liver cancer surgery, Dr. Guido Sclabas is the resident authority. Born in Switzerland, Dr. Sclabas came to America in 1988 to do research at MD Anderson in Houston. He never left the U.S. as his research and studies took him to several renowned hospitals around
