What is Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery?
Laparoscopic surgery is a surgical approach whereby the abdomen is inflated with carbon dioxide to create a “working space.” This is in contrast to conventional open surgery where a larger incision is required to expose the surgical field to the open air. A small 1 cm camera lens is then inserted into the abdomen to visualize the internal organs. The operating instruments are then inserted through even smaller incisions to perform the necessary surgery.
Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, which became available in more recent years, builds on the benefits of laparoscopy, while significantly enhancing the surgeon’s ability to see and perform careful dissection.This ability is a direct result of the specific design of the da Vinci surgical system (Intuitive Surgical) whose instruments have seven degrees of freedom of movement like the human hand and wrist. This breakthrough is one of several factors that give robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery an advantage over standard laparoscopy. In addition the da Vinci surgical system is armed with a highly sophisticated camera that produces a three-dimensional high-definition live video image of the operative field for the surgeon. The effect is akin to putting a miniature version of the surgeon inside the patient. Our surgeons have access to four da Vinci surgical systems, all the most advanced high-definition four-arm systems including three da Vinci S and one da Vinci Si.