Minimally invasive surgery

Robot-assisted surgery — sometimes called robotic surgery — accomplishes in a series of tiny incisions what could previously only be accomplished with one or more large incisions. With robotic technology, you experience less pain and scarring, a shorter hospital stay and, best of all, you get to return to your everyday life quicker.

How does robotic surgery work?

During a procedure, your surgeon is in complete control of the robotic tools. These include small surgical instruments and a high-definition, 3D camera, which aids in an efficient, successful procedure. Through an advanced control module just a few feet away from the operating table. Through the control module, their hand movements translate to the robotic technology. This enables your surgeon to move the instruments in extremely precise ways.

Robotic surgeries we perform

Robot-assisted surgical procedures are extremely helpful because they can be applied across a wide variety of specialties. We use robot-assisted surgeries in the following specialties:

• Bariatric surgery
• Cardiac surgery
• Colorectal surgery
• General surgery
• Gynecological surgery
• Neurological surgery
• Orthopedic surgery
• Thoracic surgery
• Urologic surgery

Some of the specific procedures we offer include:

• Cholecystectomy
• Gallbladder surgery
• Hernia surgery
• Hip replacement
• Hysterectomy
• Kidney surgery, including partial nephrectomy
• Knee replacement
• Myomectomy
• Prostatectomy
• Pyeloplasty
• Sacrocolpopexy
• Thymectomy
• Transoral robotic surgery (TORS)

Robotic brain surgery

As a minimally invasive option for advanced neurosurgery, we offer laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT). This robotically-controlled laser thermotherapy uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided laser light to eliminate brain tumors and other abnormalities. During this procedure, your neurosurgeon will create a small hole in the skull, followed by an an MRI-compatible robot to precisely position the laser to deliver light energy that heats and destroys the tumor. But using minimally invasive, targeted laser technology, we are able to minimize any potential damage to other parts of the brain.

Robotic single-site hysterectomy and cholecystectomy surgeries

Robot-assisted surgery offers the possibility of a single-incision, laparoscopic surgery for select patients needing a hysterectomy or cholecystectomy. Patients who receive this type of procedure usually experience virtually scar-less results. To accomplish this, surgeons operate through only one small incision in the navel (belly button). After a fast recovery, the scar is almost impossible to see.

Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive technique that allows our surgeons themselves to operate through a series of tiny incisions, rather than one large incision. During a procedure, your surgeon visualizes the surgical site with a tiny camera that is inserted through a thin, flexible tube called a laparoscope.

Images are projected from the camera onto an accompanying screen so that they can see the operating area without having to use an open incision.

Our experienced thoracic surgeons work collaboratively with pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists to try and produce the most positive surgical outcomes. Our minimally invasive thoracic surgery techniques include video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) resections for lung cancer and robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS).

Other thoracic conditions we treat with minimally invasive surgery include:

• Achalasia
• Barrett’s esophagus
• Chest wall tumors
• Diaphragm paralysis
• Empyema
• Esophageal cancer
• Esophageal motility disorders
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Hiatal hernia
• Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating)
• Lung cancer
• Lung nodules
• Mediastinal masses
• Pleural effusions
• Pleural diseases
• Pneumothorax
• Rib lesions
• Thymoma