Hospital offers robotic surgery

Franciscan Health Crawfordsville will begin conducting robotic surgeries with the da Vinci Surgical System, becoming the first in the area to offer robotic minimally invasive surgery. 

Local physicians who are trained on the da Vinci Surgical System include Jon M. Hoversland, M.D., Scott L. Sinnott, M.D., and Katie L. Towles, M.D., all with Franciscan Physician Network Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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 techniques 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. 

Traditional laparoscopy has never become widely applied outside a limited set of routine procedures. Only a select group of highly skilled surgeons routinely attempt complex procedures using a minimally invasive approach. The da Vinci Surgical System finally allows more surgeons to perform complex procedures using a minimally invasive surgical (MIS) approach – routinely and with confidence. 

A number of procedures that could not be performed using traditional MIS technologies can now be performed using the da Vinci Surgical System. The advanced feature set and extensive EndoWrist instrumentation of the da Vinci Surgical System enable surgeons to perform more procedures through 1 to 2 centimeter incisions. 

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 and improved cosmesis.

The da Vinci Surgical System allows physicians better vision, more precision and better dexterity and intuitive motion through the system. 

Franciscan Health Crawfordsville will offer a wide variety of women’s health surgeries as a minimally invasive treatment option for:

• Endometriosis

• Excessive menstrual bleeding,

• Uterine fibroids or prolapse; and

• Cervical, uterine or ovarian cancer.

The da Vinci Surgical System was installed at Franciscan Health Crawfordsville on March 22. The first procedure will take place in May. 

“Bringing the da Vinci robot to Crawfordsville allows us to expand our surgical services and provide the most advanced healthcare to Montgomery County,” says Cindy Ratcliff, director of surgical services and central sterile reprocessing at Franciscan Health Crawfordsville. “This marks the beginning of new services that will be offered at the hospital and we are thrilled!”

For more information on the da Vinci Surgical System, please visit www.franciscanhealth.org/davinci.