da Vinci® Robot Makes Some Surgeries Quicker, Easier

Piedmont Fayette Hospital and Piedmont Hospital now offer the most advanced da Vinci® surgical system available, enabling surgeons to perform minimally invasive robotic surgery. The system allows up to two surgeons to perform complex procedures using an approach that may result in less scarring and faster recovery times for patients.

In January, Cari Croft of Gay, Georgia, was Piedmont Fayette’s first gynecological patient to undergo the new robotic surgery. She compares da Vinci with a standard laparoscopic procedure she had previously.

“With my daVinci surgery, I was walking around and able to take care of myself in seven to nine days, as opposed to the three weeks that it took to feel normal after my prior laparoscopic procedure,” says Croft. “By week four of the robotic surgery, I was feeling fabulous.”

Many surgical procedures using standard techniques may be performed more quickly and easily using the
da Vinci robot, which enables surgeons to make dime-size incisions rather than the six- to 12-inch incisions common in traditional surgery. Surgeons operate by manipulating the robot’s four arms and viewing the procedure through a highresolution camera inside the patient. The system provides the additional benefit of physician training or simply placing the talent of two surgeons at the controls at once.

“The da Vinci surgical system increases care options available to patients and attracts world-class physicians who have been trained on the equipment and prefer to care for patients in areas where it is available,” says Darrell Cutts, president and CEO of Piedmont Fayette Hospital.

In April 2005, the FDA cleared da Vinci surgery for gynecologic applications and since then has seen significant adoption among surgeons. The most common female surgery is hysterectomy, with one in three women in the United States undergoing one before the age of 60. The procedure is performed for a variety of conditions including excessive bleeding, fibroids, endometriosis, uterine prolapse, cancer and pre-cancer.

“In the United States, 60 percent of hysterectomies are performed through the abdominal incision,” says Elizabeth W. Killebrew, M.D., an OB/Gyn and daVinci surgeon at Piedmont Fayette Hospital. “But with da Vinci technology, we can offer an alternative to large incisions and extended recovery periods. Women can get back to their life within days rather than the usual weeks required with traditional surgery.”

For more information on the da Vinci surgical system, call 1-877-331-5979 or visit piedmontrobotics.org.

The da Vinci surgical system at Piedmont Hospital and Piedmont Fayette Hospital offers:

• A shorter hospital stay.
• Faster recovery time.
• Minimally invasive procedures.
• Less pain and scarring.
• Diminished blood loss.
• Less risk of infection.