Robotic surgery at McKee combines high tech with excellent patient care
LOVELAND, Colo. (Sept. 9, 2009) – McKee Medical Center announces the addition of the daVinci® Surgical System to offer robotic minimally invasive surgery. Loveland obstetrician and gynecologist John Crane, MD, performed the hospital’s first robotic surgery Sept. 4.
By offering state-of-the-art robotic surgery options, McKee combines its reputation for excellent quality and compassionate patient care with advanced technology to further improve the overall patient experience.
“McKee Medical Center is committed to delivering the best experience possible for every patient who comes through our doors,” said Christopher Cornue, chief executive officer of McKee. “Our patients consistently rank us in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for patient satisfaction. Maintaining that standard of care requires continued investment in the best technology for our patients and the best staff to use it. I am pleased that we can now offer expanded services to our patients with the daVinci Surgical System.”
McKee, through parent company Banner Health, chose to install the most advanced daVinci® Surgical System, the daVinci® SI. Using the daVinci® SI model, the surgeon operates while seated at a console viewing an enhanced, high-definition 3D 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 translates the surgeon’s movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient.
The daVinci® SI model – one of two in Colorado and the only model of its type on the Front Range – also offers capabilities to easily integrate software as new advances become available.
Among the options now available at McKee with robotic surgery are gynecologic procedures including hysterectomies, myomectomies (removal of uterine fibroids), radical hysterectomies for cervical cancer, staging for endometrial cancer and tubal ligation reversal as well as prostate, bladder and kidney surgeries.
A robotic surgery, compared to a traditional open surgery, may provide benefits including:
- Small incisions for minimal scarring
- Less pain
- Less blood loss or need for transfusion
- Less risk of infection
- Shorter hospital stay
- Faster recovery and return to normal activities
- Better outcomes and patient satisfaction
Dr. Crane said robotic surgery opens a new door in gynecologic surgery. Currently, more than 600,000 hysterectomies are done in the United States annually, and 75 percent of those are done through an abdominal incision, he said.
“The robot will allow over 90 percent of those abdominal hysterectomies to be done laparoscopically using the daVinci.
“The range of motion, 3-D visualization, and wristed instruments essentially allow the surgeon to operate as if his or her hands were in the abdominal or pelvic cavity. This technology is a huge improvement over traditional laparoscopy, and I am very proud of Banner and McKee for providing to our community the very latest and most advanced robotic technology in the country,” Dr. Crane said.
Urologists Michael Eddy, MD, and Benjamin Girdler, MD, also will perform robotic surgery at McKee.
“The ‘robot’ has revolutionized urologic surgery,” Dr. Eddy said. “We have been able to take all procedures that in the past have required a large incision, and accomplish these in a safe, minimally invasive manner despite the complexity. Our experience is in the hundreds of cases, and we have added a new partner trained exclusively with the robot. This latest, most advanced, robot, now at McKee, will allow us to continue with the excellent care expected in Loveland.”
To learn more about the robotic surgery program at McKee Medical Center, please visit www.bannerhealth.com/McKeeRobotics.
