Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
ARTICLE

Robotic Surgery: 21st Century Medicine

Table of Contents

Medicine has come a long way in past few decades, especially in the area of robotics. Major advances include surgical robots employed to perform remote surgery as well as minimally invasive procedures.

Surgeries of this kind have shown some important advantages over traditional surgical technique. A higher degree of precision, reduced blood loss during the procedure, less pain, and a faster recovery are benefits derived from surgical robotics.

During a robotic procedure, the patient under general anesthesia while the surgeon sits at a control terminal nearby and directs the robotic movements. The surgeon then inserts small, surgical instruments to the repair site through a series of small incisions.

Through the incision, a miniscule camera is inserted which allows the surgeon to view a magnified three-dimensional image of the problem area. Instead of fully opening the site to be repaired, the surgeon can perform the entire procedure with the fully articulating robotic appendages and a camera. Because the incisions are much smaller, there are fewer traumas to the patient’s body.

Very often, robotic procedures allow a surgeon to perform a minimally-invasive procedure that was once possible only with more open surgery. Once the surgical tools are placed in the incision site, a robotic arm makes the procedure less tiresome for the surgeon because the robot reduces hand movements; therefore, drastically mitigating the human hand tremors that renders the surgery less precise.

Furthermore, robotically controlled instruments have easier access to inaccessible areas of the body because of the more precise nature of the mechanisms as compared to a more traditional open approach to surgery.

Surgical robotics are enjoying wide usage in medicine and continues to as the 21st Century medical innovation continues to evolve. Great strides have been made in the specializations of urology and the treatment of prostate cancer. While surgical robotics are generally not used with more complex urological problems, it is a method that provides numerous benefits for patients and surgeons alike.

Scroll to Top