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Sept. 17, 2007 6:48 a.m Business-Journal.com By Maraline Kubik YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Sometimes, the side effects of cancer treatment can be as tough on patients as the disease itself. St. Elizabeth Health Center aims to change that with a robot that enables surgeons to operate with minimal invasion and greater precision, sparing patients some of the worst side effects and speeding their recoveries. The da Vinci S Surgical System, installed at St. Elizabeth’s main campus, expands the surgeon’s capabilities by providing a clearer and better view of the inside the patient’s body than traditional surgery allows. And it does this while providing unparalleled precision, dexterity and control, explains Dan Ricchiuti, director of minimally invasive surgery. Ricchiuti, a urologist, uses the da Vinci Surgical System to perform prostatectomies. Robot-assisted surgeries that use the da Vinci Surgical System offer a minimally invasive option for many complex procedures, he explains. This option means smaller incisions, less pain, less loss of blood, less time in the hospital, quicker recovery and less scarring, all of which is good for the patient. It could reduce recovery time, from six weeks to two, that a patient needs before he resumes normal activity, although that varies with each patient, Ricchiuti notes. Through highly magnified three-dimensional visualization, the da Vinci robot provides surgeons the means to perform extremely precise procedures, sparing injury to surrounding tissue and nerves. With nerves that are as fine as tissue paper, this is extremely important, Ricchiuti says. In prostate surgery, preserving and preventing injury to these nerves could preserve the patient’s ability to achieve an erection following recovery, one of the primary concerns of many patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Using the da Vinci Surgical System requires the surgeon to sit at an ergonomically designed console from which four interactive robotic arms and a camera are controlled. “I tell people it’s like driving a car,” Ricchiuti says. “The robot isn’t performing the surgery, the physician is performing the surgery by driving the robot.” A second surgeon assists at the patient’s side, changing surgical instruments on each of the robotic arms as necessary, retracting tissue so the surgeon has a clear view and suturing incisions. More than 30 different surgical instruments can be attached to the robotic arms. Eventually, St. Elizabeth’s da Vinci Surgical System will also be employed to perform hysterectomies and cardiac surgeries. “I would love for this to become a regional center” for robot-assisted surgeries, Ricchiuti says. At present, the da Vinci robot is moved from operating room to operating room as needed and has been used only by Ricchiuti and two of his partners, Mark Memo and Vince Ricchiuti. He estimates the robot could be used in as many as five surgeries a day. St. Elizabeth’s is the first health care provider in the Mahoning Valley to install the technology, which first became available in 1999. It is one of 550 da Vinci Surgical Systems employed by health care providers in the United States and one of 650 throughout the world, reports Shawn McKenna, area sales manager for Intuitive Surgical. St. Elizabeth’s da Vinci system is the newest model available, McKenna adds. Earlier models are employed by hospitals in Akron, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. “Now patients don’t need to go to Cleveland or Pittsburgh to have such a procedure using this equipment,” Ricchiuti says. “And it demonstrates St. Elizabeth’s commitment to the community. It’s a major investment and it’s all for the benefit of the patients.” “Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of death in men – so it’s very common,” Ricchiuti continues. There are no signs or symptoms and diagnosis is made through a simple blood test that measures prostate-specific antigens. Ricchiuti recommends that all men 40 years old and older have the test annually.
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