PMC shows off surgery robots used to revolutionize surgical operations
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POCATELLO — In the past, hernia surgeries could leave patients in recovery for months. Now, with new surgery robots, patients can return to work, school and normal life in mere days.
Intuitive, the company that develops Da Vinci surgery robots and trains surgeons to operate them, has revolutionized the operating room.
Portneuf Medical Center began implementing surgery robots in 2011, according to Intuitive representative Ann Arrington. In that time, more than 4,500 robotic surgeries have been performed at the hospital, and it has become an industry leader in the field.
Dr. Jorge De Amorim Filho, a general surgeon at PMC, has performed 845 robotic surgeries and has reached a point where around 80% of his cases are done robotically.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” De Amorim Filho said. “I don’t think there’s any limitations to this type of technology. Some surgeries are more difficult, but there are things that we never thought we would be able to do on the robot that we can do now.”
Visitors and patients at PMC got to see the modern devices in action on Tuesday, with “not for human use” samples set up in the lobby of the hospital. Children were allowed to use the device, and showed their ability to manipulate things like folded bills, coins and rubber bands.
There was also a simulator, which De Amorim Filho used to show the process of removing a gallbladder.
A surgeon must go through an extensive certification process before using a surgery robot. That process in controlled by Intuitive, which then tests the surgeon’s proficiency before issuing certification.
Some hospitals, Arrington added, have begun implementing the training process into their residency programs, meaning doctors are completing their education with a base knowledge of the technology.
But, De Amorim Filho said, the key to becoming a successful robot surgeon is a mentor who can provide guidance throughout the process of training, certifying and using these devices. He credits his mentor, Dr. Drew McRoberts, for helping him reach the point that, according to Arrington, he has conducted proctor training nationwide.
“Dr. McRoberts was a fantastic mentor, who really believes — he’s, kind of, a forefather of robotic surgery here and, kind of, a visionary,” De Amorim Filho said.
McRoberts, De Amorim Filho said, is the reason PMC began using the Da Vinci devices well before they became an industry standard — with, Arrington told EastIdahoNews.com, 4,250 devices in operation across the nation.
The key advantage to using Da Vinci devices for surgery is recovery time. Because the device needs only four “pinky-nail sized” incisions, as De Amorim Filho described, patients are able to recover in a fraction of the time.
Arrington said that she knows of cases where patients have undergone hernia surgeries Friday and been back to normal life, and off pain meds, by Monday.
The reason De Amorim Filho and Arrington used hernia surgeries as their example so often is twofold. Hernia surgeries, until Da Vinci, have been an invasive, “open” surgery — ones that used to require days in the hospital and months until a person was fully recovered.
Also, PMC is recognized as a “hernia center of excellence,” De Amorim Filho said. Through extensive training, conducted by McRoberts, and the use of Da Vinci, PMC has become a facility that performs the surgery on patients from out of state.
De Amorim Filho called hernia surgeries something PMC takes “special interest in.” But, he added, Da Vinci surgery robots have become something the hospital’s surgeons use for most operations.
“You go home sooner, return to work sooner,” De Amorim Filho said. “So, ultimately, even though it’s very fun for us, it’s better for the patient.”