GW Hospital First to Acquire Second da Vinci Robot

September 5, 2008

The George Washington University Hospital is the first in the region to have a second da Vinci Surgical System. The new robot, the da Vinci S HD, features three-dimensional, high-definition vision.  

“GW Hospital’s robotic surgery cases increased by 128% over a two-year period,” said Trent Crable, interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. “It’s clear that robotic surgery is the future of medicine. The public demands it and I have doctors lining up at my door everyday asking to get time on the da Vinci robot.”

The dramatic growth in robotic surgery cases has been seen worldwide. According to Intuitive Surgical Inc., developers of the da Vinci Surgical System, it’s estimated that 195,000 multi-specialty da Vinci surgical procedures were performed worldwide between 2001 and 2007. The company expects that an additional 136,000 procedures will be performed in 2008 alone.

During robot-assisted surgery, the surgeon sits at a console a few feet away from the patient. The surgeon views the surgical area three-dimensionally in real-time on a monitor and operates through tiny incisions, using electromechanically enhanced instruments on a patient-side cart.  

Jason D. Engel, MD, Vice Chairman of Urology and Director of Urologic Robotic Surgery at GW Hospital, has performed over 900 robotic prostatectomies. “It’s a difficult tool to master, but when mastered it’s a magnificent tool,” says Engel. “It can make an experienced surgeon exceptional.”  
 
Some benefits physicians experience are greater surgical precision, increased range of motion, improved dexterity and enhanced 3D visualization. Advantages for patients may include shorter hospital stays and recovery times, fewer complications and less blood loss.
In another first, surgeons Farid Gharagozloo MD, Clinical Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery Services, and Farzad Najam, MD, Professor of Surgery, have recently published a comprehensive textbook on robotic surgery, Robotic Surgery: Theory and Technique.

"Patients will travel for experience," adds Dr. Gharagozloo. "As the market leaders in cardiothoracic and urologic robotic surgery, we've had patients come from up and down the east coast to as far away as Australia for their procedures."

In 2003, GW Hospital became the first public hospital in D.C. to purchase a da Vinci Surgical System. Since then, surgeons have been performing robot-assisted procedures to treat cancers of the prostate, lung, esophagus, and chest; kidney and cardiovascular diseases; and non-cancerous conditions of the lung and esophagus.

For more information about robotic surgery at the GW Hospital, please call
1-888-4-GW-DOCS or visit: www.gwhospital.com/roboticsurgery