MetroWest Medical Center Achieves Robotic Surgery Milestone

Surgical team performs 1000^th Robotic Surgery procedure

MetroWest Medical Center recently celebrated a major milestone in providing minimally invasive robotic surgery care to the greater MetroWest region. The hospital’s surgical team recently performed its 1000^th procedure using its da Vinci Xi ™ Surgical System. This achievement demonstrates the medical center’s commitment to enhancing surgical care for its patients. 

The da Vinci Xi ™ is a technology used for minimally invasive surgical procedures. The system has several features that can provide clinical benefits and efficiency in the operating room, some of which translate to potential patient benefits. Benefits of robotic-assisted surgeries may include:

• Significantly less pain
• Decrease in blood loss
• Less scarring
• Fewer complications
• Shorter hospital stay
• Shorter Recovery Time
• Faster return to normal daily activities
• Better clinical outcomes

“Robotic surgery allows us to provide minimally invasive surgery on any number of procedures, ranging from the most routine to the most complex cases,” says general, minimally invasive and robotic surgeon Lorenzo Bucci, MD, FACS, Interim Chief of Surgery and director of the Robotics Program at MetroWest Medical Center. “It is the type of technology we are always looking for as surgeons because it allows us to provide the most precise and meticulous operation possible. The minimally invasive procedure also reduces much of the pain and complications associated with open procedures surgeons usually perform.”

“The da Vinci Robotic System enables us to utilize the most innovative and comprehensive surgical care to our patients,” says MetroWest Medical Center general, minimally invasive and robotic surgeon Andrew Gordon, MD, FACS. “Robotic surgery allows us to view tissue and organs magnified up to 10 times, and there is less need for medication to manage pain and increased overall comfort for our patients. I am confident that improving our patients’ hospital experience will lead to the betterment of their quality of life.”

The da Vinci Xi ™ system consists of a surgeon console, patient cart, and vision cart. The surgeon sits at the console, controlling the instruments remotely while viewing the patient’s anatomy onscreen in highly magnified, high-definition 3D. Positioned alongside the patient’s bed, the patient cart holds the camera and instruments that the surgeon controls from the console. The vision cart makes communication between components possible and supports the 3D high-definition vision system.

The system translates the surgeon’s hand movements at the console in real time, bending and rotating the tiny instruments while performing the procedure. The instrument size makes it possible for surgeons to operate through one or a few small incisions. In general, because it involves smaller, less extensive incisions than regular surgery, minimally invasive surgery is associated with less pain, a shorter hospital stay, and fewer complications.

“We are continually making significant investments and providing broader access to the latest surgical options and technology, which is all designed to improve recovery times and clinical outcomes,” says MetroWest Medical Center Chief Executive Officer John Whitlock, Jr. “Our efforts to provide advanced, minimally invasive surgical options to our community are evident in our latest accomplishment.”

The da Vinci Xi ™ can be used for a multitude of procedures, including, but not limited to: robotic cystectomy, colectomy, Hiatal hernia repair, acid reflux, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, robotic prostatectomy, bariatric surgery and ovarian cyst surgery.

For more information on Robotic Surgery at MetroWest Medical Center, visit here