Intermountain Health Holy Rosary Hospital Adds Surgical Robot
Intermountain Health Holy Rosary Hospital in Miles City is now using a state-of-the-art surgical robot to assist with certain procedures and improve recovery times for patients.
The Da Vinci XI robotic-assisted surgical system helps doctors with certain procedures by using only small incisions while still being able to make precise movements in the body.
During these procedures, a specially-trained surgeon controls the movement of camera-equipped robotic equipment by using a console placed next to the operating table instead of physically performing the surgery with their hands.
“From a patient perspective it results in less pain from surgery and allows for more precise work,” said Imudia Ehanire, MD, surgeon at Intermountain Health Holy Rosary Hospital. “From the surgeon perspective it improves ergonomics of performing surgery, improves visualization and allows us do more precise work. Robotic surgery has been around for over a decade, and for these and many other reasons it is becoming more commonplace in hospitals across America.”
The surgical robot can be used to assist with surgeries for gallbladder, appendix removal, hernia repair, and many others. Since May 9, six of these procedures have taken place with more scheduled in the future.
Danikka Harrell of Miles City, MT, was the first to undergo a surgery using the new robot. She’s a nurse at the Verterans Adminsitration Hospital and had a hernia repaired, which was causing serious issues.
“Working as a nurse there is a lot of bending and lifting and to be honest I don’t remember the last time I was able to go work comfortably,” said Harrell. “I was just so excited to know I had this kind of technology available to me and my recovery went better than I expected.”
Harrell said one of the things she’s most excited about is getting back to playing volleyball pain free.
For patients, the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery include fewer complications, reduced blood loss, less pain, and shorter hospital stays. Because the robotic technology allows the surgeon to operate less invasively, patients heal faster, and less noticeable scarring.
In the future, physicians will use the surgical robot for additional procedures including gynecology. The decision whether or not to proceed with robotic-assisted surgery over a more traditional approach depends on the individual patient and the procedure required to treat their condition.
###