Robotic-assisted surgeryIf your doctor has recommended major surgery as the best option for treating your condition, you may be a candidate for robotic-assisted surgery. This new approach to surgery is changing the way doctors operate – and the way patients recover. Like other minimally invasive procedures, robotic-assisted surgery is performed through a few tiny incisions. However, it offers surgeons higher magnification, better flexibility and more precision than conventional laparoscopic surgery. Whether you have an enlarged prostate, uterine fibroids or another condition that requires an operation, robotic surgery offers many potential benefits, including shorter hospital stays and a quicker return to daily activities. Patient benefits
da Vinci robotic surgery is available at these Allina Health hospitals:
 Robotic surgery at RFAH 'is the way to go'Neal Prochnow didn’t let surgery for prostate cancer slow him down. Prochnow, 71, is a River Falls resident and a retired dean and professor at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. Robotic surgery: Quick recovery and less painDespite having severe endometriosis for years, Tara Ulmaniac, 39, was hesitant to undergo surgery to treat the condition. But when a family member had a robot-assisted hysterectomy and was up and around within a week, Ulmaniac knew it was time to reconsider.  Prostate cancer: Retired doctor chooses robotic surgery for prostate cancerEvery year, more than a quarter of a million American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. When Robert Jensen, MD, found out he had prostate cancer, he chose to have robotic surgery at United Hospital in St. Paul. Now he continues to enjoy spending time with his grandson.  Prostate: Removing the prostate robotically/simple prostatectomyLee Burke knew he needed surgery for his enlarged prostate gland. It wasn't cancer, but the gland's size and continued growth was interfering with his ability to urinate and began affecting his kidneys.  Obstetrics/gynecology: da Vinci robotic surgery: Bobbi's storyBobbi Bade suffered from pelvic pain and could not conceive a child. Normal therapies offered little hope for Bobbi and her husband to have children. Then Bobbi met Eric English, MD, an obstetrics/gynecology surgeon at United Hospital. Dr. English offered Bobbi a chance to relieve her pain and restore her fertility using a new surgical technique with the da Vinci robot.  Obstetrics/gynecology: Removal of uterine fibroidsDuring her annual physical exam, Forest Lake resident Jeannette Wittrock talked with her family physician about her heavy, long menstrual bleeding. She had uterine fibroids, noncancerous tumors of the uterus, a condition that often runs in families.  Mercy Hospital physicians perform robotic-assisted mitral valve surgeryChuck Barnes of Elk River wasn't going to let heart surgery get in the way of an October hunting trip. Less than two weeks after surgery to repair his mitral valve, Barnes was shooting antelope in Wyoming.  Cardiothoracic surgeons performed the first robotic procedure at Mercy HospitalCardiothoracic surgeons Jong Kim, MD, and Brian Tell, MD, performed the first robotic procedure at Mercy Hospital on Friday, November 9. They used the robot to harvest an artery from the chest of Joseph Dehen of Anoka, Minn. Then, they used the artery to bypass a blockage in Dehen's heart in a minimally invasive procedure. |
