Robotic Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

A robotically assisted bypass surgery has been successfully performed on a 71-year-old man by Dr. Michael Argenziano and Dr. Craig Smith of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (New York, NY, USA).

The surgeons made three pencil-sized holes in the chest of the patient. Then, under their direction, two robotic arms and an endoscope were inserted into the three holes to perform the procedure, which usually requires open-heart surgery. The surgeons used the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA), which comprises a surgeon's console, a patient-side cart, a vision system, and proprietary instruments. The procedure was performed as part of a clinical trial on the da Vinci system.

The system translates the natural hand movements on instrument controls at a console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through the small holes, or ports. Studies show that patients who have minimally invasive bypass surgery get out of the hospital one to two days earlier than patients recovering from conventional cardiac surgery.

"Other advantages of minimally invasive surgery can include quicker patient recovery times, less pain, and dramatically less scarring than traditional open-heart operations,” said Dr. Argenziano, who is also the principal investigator of the trial.



Related Links:
Intuitive Surgical
Columbia Presbyterian