The Royal Jubilee Hospital could soon be home to a state-of-the-art surgical tool that looks like something out of a science-fiction movie.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 30, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation announced plans to raise $17 million to purchase a surgical robot, which will allow doctors to perform minimally invasive surgeries with improved accuracy, dexterity and control.
Produced by California-based engineering company Intuitive, the machine is composed of two main parts: a surgeon console and patient cart. Behind the console, surgeons use remote controls to guide the patient cart's array of surgical tools. Hand movements translate to the cart in real time.
“Robotic surgery ... will allow us to get into very small places with incredible dexterity and great visualization so we can do surgery with less trauma, less bleeding and less complications in general,” said Island Health’s chief urologist Dr. Jeff McCracken.
The control the robot provides can make surgeries traditionally performed by hand less invasive.
In a recent letter highlighting the benefit of robot-assisted surgeries, McCracken wrote, “We will also now be able to perform new surgeries, and get into places we simply cannot reach right now. My colleagues in otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat surgery), for example, will be able to do minimally invasive procedures that previously required cutting into the jaw and left patients with permanent scarring and difficulties in eating, speaking and swallowing.”
McCracken highlighted the positive effects robot-assisted surgery will have on people receiving prostate surgeries.
Robot-assisted prostate surgery results in 23 per cent fewer post-operation readmissions. The latter also results in 50 per cent shorter recovery room stays and 60 per cent shorter hospital stays, according to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
One of McCracken's patients, Steve Marta, said he wishes a surgical robot was available at Jubilee when he underwent a prostatectomy.
“The risk of possible complications would have been drastically reduced,” said Marta, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January. “Maybe I would not have developed that blood clot that landed me back in the ER with so much pain and discomfort."
Less-invasive surgeries mean less strain on nurses, too.
“When these patients go to the ward, they're going to have far fewer demands," said McCracken. "Nurses right now are always running around trying to deal with numerous things. These patients will come up there and, in general, be very comfortable and not really in need of a lot of attention."
This could reduce pressure on Victoria’s health-care system in general.
“It's going to hopefully decompress the system a bit with less need for longer stays in the hospital,” said the urologist.
The Victoria Hospitals Foundation has already received a $2.5 million donation from the Jawl Foundation.
To contribute, visit: victoriahf.ca/itstime/.
