San Antonio, Texas – Surgeons at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital have a new device to perform minimally invasive procedures for urological and gynecological surgeries. The robot is housed in a special operating room at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital located at 8026 Floyd Curl Drive in the South Texas Medical Center.

“For most patients, the benefits of the da Vinci robot include a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, less pain and less risk of infection. Incisions are about one to two centimeters long, so there is less abdominal scarring as well,” said Sammy Vick, M.D., who specializes in urology and is among several physicians at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital trained to use the da Vinci device. Using the da Vinci® Surgical System, the surgeon operates while seated comfortably at a console viewing a three dimensional 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.

The da Vinci system consists of a surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms and a high-definition vision system. Surgeons are specially trained to use the surgical device which offers greater dexterity due to the robot’s ability to exceed the natural range of motion of the human hand. The robot was installed last month in a new operating room designed especially for robotic surgery. The device can be used in a variety of operations including:

• Radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate gland due to cancer)
• Partial nephrectomy (removal of sections of a diseased kidney)
• Pyeloplasty (removes blockages in the kidneys)
• Radical cystectomy (removal of the bladder)
• Radical hysterectomy (removal of the uterus)
• Myomectomy (removal of fibroid tumors from the uterus)

*A Methodist Hospital facility