Robotic surgery has been becoming more and more common as the technology offers many benefits including being less scary and quicker recovery time. . Procedures that were once only able to be performed through large incisions and with large instruments are now being done with microscopic precision with the aid of much smaller incisions and much tinier instruments.

Before robotic surgery, laparoscopic surgery was performed using smaller instrumentation and smaller incisions It also incorporated the use of miniature cameras to view the operating field.  Robotic surgery expanded on this technique through the addition of robotic arms that could mimic the dexterity of a surgeon’s hands but in a smaller operating area.

The first surgical robot was called the Arthrobot and was used for the first time in 1983 by Canadian physicians.  After that, other robots were used to perform eye surgery and later on prostate surgeries. These developments came slowly at first during the 1980’s Initially surgeries were being performed by surgeons with precision and with the patient in the same room as the robot. However, modern technology now makes it possible for surgeons to operate on patients far away. This has proven helpful to doctors who can operate on soldiers injured on battlefields in foreign countries.

Currently one of the most advanced robots in use today is the da Vinci Surgical System.  It is an extremely precise tool that has been in use for over ten years. The advantages of surgeries performed using this technology are often shorter recovery times and less discomfort for the patient.

Surgeons at Flushing Hospital Medical Center are highly trained in operating the da Vinci robot. Some of the procedures that are commonly performed are prostatectomies, hysterectomies, and bariatric weight loss.

If you would like to schedule an appointment with a surgeon at Flushing Hospital, please call 718-670-5486.

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