Palms West Hospital CEO Bland Eng with Dr. Moises Virelles, Dr. David Adler, Dr. Seth Herbst and Dr. Sam Falzone, the ob/gyns using the new da Vinci system of robotic surgery.
Robotic Surgery Arrives At Palms West Hospital BY RON BUKLEY
The recent introduction of robotic technology at Palms West Hospital can reduce hospital stays from three days to an overnight observation for patients who undergo routine surgeries. The hospital started using the da Vinci system of robotic surgery to perform hysterectomies in April. Robotic procedures are being performed by Dr. David Adler, Dr. Sam Falzone, Dr. Seth Herbst and Dr. Moises Virelles. Laparoscopic surgery has been steadily increasing for years, and the da Vinci system has revolutionized the process. “We’ve been doing laparoscopic for a while, but we just took a quantum leap forward in the type of tools we have to use,” Falzone explained. Although the da Vinci system is used in other applications, including prostate, lung and cardiac surgeries, Palms West Hospital uses it primarily for hysterectomies and a few other gynecological procedures at this point.
The applications for hysterectomies are quite broad, considering the methods that were used, said Falzone, who compared traditional laparoscopic procedures to operating with chopsticks. “There was a tool at the end of the chopstick. You were able to put the straight chopstick in and you were able to do what you wanted to do, but whatever you were doing was at the end of those sticks,” he said. “What this da Vinci system does is take my hands off and puts them on the end of the chopsticks.” WELLINGTON THE MAGAZINE • JULY 2010
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