Mayo Clinic First in the Southwest to Perform Robotic Hysterectomy

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Media Contact:
Lynn Closway
Mayo Clinic
480-301-4222
closway.lynn@mayo.edu

For Immediate Release - March 24, 2004

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale has become the first medical center in the Southwestern U.S. to perform hysterectomy and other complex gynecologic surgeries using robotic technology. This opens the field of minimally invasive surgery to women who typically had not been candidates for laparoscopy due to complications such as adhesions in the uterine wall.

Until recently, women requiring a complex hysterectomy have only had the option of an open surgery which can cause considerable pain and discomfort, as well as up to six weeks of restricted activity. Minimally invasive surgery may now be an option for these patients.

Using robotics, surgeons can perform the same surgery by directing robotic "arms" that perform the surgery using a variety of tiny surgical instruments operating through small abdominal incisions. Robotic surgery allows for more precision and flexibility and less trauma to the abdominal wall. The surgeon is in complete control of the robotic controls and is assisted by a surgical team, just as in open laparoscopic surgery. Patients typically go home the same day and can return to normal activity much more quickly than with open gynecologic surgeries.

"Robotics provides a major benefit to both patients and surgeons," says Javier Magrina, M.D., chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mayo Clinic. "For the patient, she can get back to her life much more quickly and comfortably. For the surgeon, there is less fatigue and the ability to be absolutely precise. There's no question that robotic surgery represents the best of both worlds. It's also the wave of the future because someday soon we may be able to perform surgeries remotely and use this technology to teach by tele-mentoring."

Robotic surgery differs from laparoscopic surgery in several ways. In open laparoscopic surgery, movements must be performed by the surgeon in "mirror image." With robotic surgery, the correction is made electronically, making the surgical procedure more like the natural movements performed in an open surgery. Robotic surgery is performed with the surgeon seated, viewing the surgical area in 3D with magnification of 12 times or more, as opposed to 2D on a remote screen with laparoscopic surgery. Robotic surgery addresses limitations of the human hand by correcting for hand tremor and providing the flexibility to work in areas out of reach to the human hand. While both types of surgeries result in less discomfort and quicker recovery time, robotic surgery allows for increased precision in complex surgeries which would not have been able to be performed laparoscopically.

Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale has performed more than 60 robotic gynecologic surgeries since 2003, including removal of ovarian tumors, cysts and endometriosis, hysterectomy for benign and malignant conditions and myomectomy that removes fibroids but keeps the uterus intact. Mayo Clinic began using the ZEUS Robotic Surgical System in February 2003 and has recently switched to the latest DaVinci Robotic Surgical System performing the first gynecologic surgeries with the new robot in March 2004.

Mayo Clinic is a private group practice of medicine dedicated to providing diagnosis and treatment of patient illnesses through a systematic focus on individual patient needs. As a leading academic medical center in the Southwest, Mayo Clinic focuses on providing specialty and surgical care in more than 65 disciplines at its outpatient facility in north Scottsdale and at Mayo Clinic Hospital. The 205-bed hospital is located at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard (north of Bell Road) in northeast Phoenix, and provides inpatient care to support the medical and surgical specialties of the clinic, which is located at 134th Street and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale.

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