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Robotic surgery in gynecology

Monday, July 16, 2012 08:49 AM    Views : 773by:REBECCA B. SINGSON
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EA, a 48 year old businesswoman, has been in denial that she has a myoma diagnosed since 1994. She was mortified with the thought of undergoing the knife and scarring her stretch mark-free belly. She never sought consult with a gynecologist with the hope of escaping to deal with her problem.

However, one day, she came to read about robotic surgery in the newspapers. Suddenly, the concept of minimally invasive surgery did not seem scary anymore, with the prospect of a faster recovery time, minimal incisions and post-op pain and scarring. She went for robotic surgery and was glad she did.

She was able to rid herself of her 16 cm myoma, which is just a benign tumor in her uterus, without the trauma and the difficult post op course she had been fearing and imagining all these years. She was back to work in 7 days, and was happy with her minimal scarring and minimal post-op pain. Had she not heard of robotic surgery, she would never have subjected herself for surgery and would still be living in denial.

Robotic surgery is a great improvement on laparoscopic surgery because of a three-dimensional vision system, wristed instruments, and ergonomic positioning for the surgeon doing the surgery.

Unlike a 2-D camera used in traditional laparoscopy, robotic surgery uses a high-definition 3-D camera which gives the surgeon the mch-needed depth-perception.

The wristed instruments give a higher degree of dexterity. With finger control on the console, the surgeon can perform more natural movements which make especially suturing and knot tying way easier compared to traditional laparoscopy. The movements are finer and more precise, especially for performing delicate dissections.

Ergonomics is an added advantage of robotic surgery. With traditional laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon stands on the operating table, manually moving the instruments by using a lot of upper arm movements, twisting and contorting to reach over the patient's abdomen to manipulate the instruments, all of which can become tiring with a long, difficult surgery.

Robotic surgery minimizes fatigue because the surgeon sits comfortably at the surgical console and manipulates the hand controls using the fingers and foot pedals in an ergonomic position that is set to his or her liking.

Robotic surgery can now address a multitude of gynecological procedures such as the removal of the uterus for benign or malignant conditions, lymph node dissection, removal of ovaries or ovarian cysts, removal of myoma and the repair of prolapsed vaginal vault.

With the advancements in science addressing the preservation of life, robotic surgery is rapidly revolutionizing the way surgery is performed.

Source:http://malaya.com.ph/index.php/living/8518-robotic-surgery-in-gynecology

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