Robotic surgery offers many advantages, both for patients and for the surgeon. It represents a new stage in minimally invasive surgery, after laparoscopy, which has already replaced conventional surgery in some fields.
What robotic surgery brings to the patient
- Reduced blood loss and need for transfusion. Robotic procedures, particularly in cancer surgery, are accompanied by less blood loss, which reduces the need for transfusion during or after the operation.
- Less pain, less painkiller use. As robotic surgery removes the need for large incisions, post-operative pain is lower in patients, who therefore need fewer painkillers.
- A shorter hospital stay. Procedures performed robotically shorten the length of hospital stay compared with open surgery. After some procedures, patients go home on the same day or the day after. They recover faster and more comfortably, and return to the normal physical activities of daily life.
- A reduced risk of infection. In robotic surgery, as the abdominal cavity is not opened and bleeding is low, the risk of infection is reduced.
- Better cosmetic results. Robotic surgery does not require a large incision in the abdominal wall; all procedures are carried out through 3 or 4 small ports made in the abdomen. The patient is therefore left with fewer scars.
High-resolution three-dimensional vision;
Standard laparoscopic images come from a single camera; in robotic surgery, the procedure uses two high-resolution cameras, which provides three-dimensional vision magnified 10 to 12 times. The robotic instruments reach, inside the body, areas that are normally inaccessible to the surgeon's hand and allow the surgeon to see structures too small to be perceived with the naked eye. The surgeon can thus operate in parts of the abdominal cavity or other body cavities that are inaccessible in open surgery.
A greater range of movement
The latest-generation robot at Anadolu Medical Center has four robotic arms. One controls the camera, while the other three hold the surgical instruments. Two arms represent the surgeon's right and left hands. The other arm allows complementary tasks, such as separating and retracting tissue or following the surgical suture. The ends of the robot are fitted with "EndoWrist" articulated technology. This device offers seven degrees of freedom and rotation on two axes, thereby reproducing three arm movements and three wrist movements to grasp or cut. The increased range of movement of these instruments eliminates many of the difficulties encountered in two-dimensional laparoscopic procedures.
Filtering of hand tremor
The surgeon's hand movements are scaled by a computer system and then transmitted to the robot's arms. This robotic technology eliminates even the slightest hand tremors. The system filters out tremors above 6 Hz, so that procedures requiring great precision can be carried out with ease.