Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine has become the first health system in Illinois to offer minimally invasive thoracic surgeries through a single incision using Intuitive’s da Vinci SP surgical system.
The robotic platform allows surgeons to perform complex procedures through a small incision in the patient’s abdomen. Previously, such procedures required surgeons to make multiple incisions in the chest, which can be tied to higher levels of pain and worse outcomes.
The surgical advancement is expected to reduce complications and shorten patients’ length of stay.
“For patients who have received this new type of procedure, their recovery has been much faster and less painful, allowing them to get home and get back to work easier. It’s especially a great option for elderly and more frail patients because it decreases their risk of falling post-surgery since they have less pain,” Samuel Kim, MD, director of robotic thoracic surgery at the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute, said in a Sept. 16 news release.
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