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First Robotic Hysterectomies in Utah Performed at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center
(August 13, 2008) - Surgeons at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center have recently begun using the da Vinci Surgical System to perform hysterectomies. The hospital is currently one of only a handful of facilities across the country offering this minimally invasive, state-of-the-art procedure.
The procedure is an alternative to the traditional surgical laparoscopic approach. Using the da Vinci Surgical System, the surgeon operates while seated comfortably at a console viewing a 3-D image of the surgical field. The surgeon's fingers grasp the master controls below the display, with hands and wrists naturally positioned relative to his or her eyes. The system seamlessly translates the surgeon's hand, wrist and finger movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient.
Many surgical procedures performed today using standard laparoscopic technique may be performed more quickly and easily using the da Vinci Surgical System. This is because the da Vinci Surgical System delivers increased clinical capability while maintaining the same "look and feel" of open surgery.
The da Vinci Robotic system allows the surgeon to address more complicated procedures with a minimally invasive procedure,” said Dr. Jason Johnson, M.D., Obstetrics & Gynecology at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. Dr. Johnson also performed the first sacrocolpopexy procedure on the da Vinci in Utah. He adds, “by enhancing surgical capabilities, the da Vinci Surgical System helps to improve clinical outcomes and redefine standards of care. Patients may experience the following benefits: reduced trauma to the body, reduced blood loss and need for transfusions, less post-operative pain and discomfort, less risk of infection, shorter hospital stay, faster recovery and return to normal daily activities, and less scarring.”
Surgeons perform approximately 600,000 hysterectomies each year in the United States alone, and 65% of those performed are total abdominal hysterectomies, 10% are laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomies (LAVH), and 25% are vaginal hysterectomies. Despite general preference for minimally invasive procedures, the majority of these surgeries are still performed using large incisions.
Thursday August 14th, only at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, all media, physicians and staff can take the da Vinci for a drive. Get behind the controls, the da Vinci surgical system will be available for you to “test-drive”. Located in the radiology waiting room, ground floor from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Come experience the latest technology that Salt Lake Regional Medical Center has available to surgeons in the Salt Lake City area.
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