USMD Arlington Surgeons Among First to Perform Single­-Site Robotic Surgery

ARLINGTON, Texas – (March 21, 2012)– Each year, about one million people in the United States undergo gallbladder removal surgery. Of that number, 40 percent of these patients are women, ages 18 to 44. Thanks to the latest breakthrough in robotic-assisted surgery, patients can now have their gallbladders removed in about the same amount of time as a lunch break, and be home in time for dinner with minimal discomfort and potentially no visible scar. Minimally invasive surgery has taken yet another step forward.

Augustus Lyons, MD, a general surgeon at USMD Hospital at Arlington, is among the very first surgeons in the United States to perform a robotic-assisted cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal surgery), using a single incision through the belly button. The first single site procedure done in Tarrant County and only the second in the DFW area was done on March 20 at USMD Hospital at Arlington. USMD Hospital at Arlington is one of only two hospitals in the DFW area to offer this groundbreaking surgery made possible through a new FDA-approved single-site advancement to the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System.

“One of the greatest advantages of having the robotic assistance for single-incision surgery is being able to offer this minimally invasive and virtually scarless surgery to my patients,” said Dr. Lyons. “I think this is only the beginning and eventually we will expand the use of this tool for more procedures. The robotic system gives me the ability to not only operate through one small incision and through a natural body opening like the umbilicus, but it gives me the precision and three-dimensional, high definition vision system to enhance surgical capabilities.”

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. received FDA-approval on the new operating platform for the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System specifically for cholecystectomy procedures. The system enables surgeons to reduce the traditional four to six incisions to one incision that is less than an inch in length. Surgeons at USMD Hospital at Arlington utilize the da Vinci® System for a variety of minimally invasive robotic surgical procedures, including kidney, general, gastroenterology (GI), gynecological and urological surgery. In 2006, USMD Hospital at Arlington was one of the earliest in the country to acquire the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System. The hospital currently has three robots under one roof. Although robotic instruments play a significant role in surgical procedures at USMD Hospital at Arlington, it is the highly trained physicians who perform the surgery and produce the exceptional clinical outcomes. The surgeon’s skill, complemented by robot precision, offers benefits to patients undergoing surgery in a variety of specialties.