COVER STORY
UPMC Passavant surgeons have access to the latest robotic technology, including the da Vinci® Surgical System. Patients may experience shorter hospital stays, less pain, and a quicker recovery following robotic-assisted surgery.
Robotic Surgery:
Leading the Way at UPMC Passavant This content is sponsored by UPMC.
It’s been 13 years since UPMC Passavant–McCandless first introduced robotic-assisted surgery to its patients. Since then, it’s become a medical destination for advanced robotic surgeries, offering more than 60 different routine and complex procedures.
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obotic-assisted surgeries at UPMC Passavant–McCandless continue to grow in number as specialists find new applications to enhance patient care and outcomes. Patients are benefitting from the advantages of smaller incisions, less pain and bleeding, reduced hospital stays, and faster recoveries. Michael J. Bonidie, MD, is a board-certified urogynecologist specializing in complex uterine and vaginal prolapse surgery. He joined UPMC Michael J. Bonidie, MD, Passavant just as is a board-certified its robotic surgery urogynecologist program was specializing in complex starting in 2010. uterine and vaginal prolapse surgery. Today, he sits
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on the robotics oversight committee for all UPMC facilities. “In just over a decade, we’ve developed a very robust, multidisciplinary robotics program at UPMC Passavant,” says Dr. Bonidie. “From the start, there was a commitment to bring in top experts with the launch of each specialization. There are now high-level robotic offerings in many areas across the hospital. It’s something I’m very proud to still be part of — and it’s a tremendous resource for northern community residents.” Robotic surgery procedures are regularly performed at UPMC Passavant in these nine specialty areas: • Cardiac (Heart) • Colorectal • General Surgery • Gynecological • Neurological • Orthopaedic
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• Surgical Oncology • Thoracic • Urology Currently, there are 20 skilled UPMC Passavant surgeons using robotics for more than 60 different procedures. They care for conditions ranging from leaky heart valves and painful uterine fibroids to complex liver resections, head and neck tumors, and pancreatic and prostate cancer.
Technology That Started on the Battlefield
Robotic-assisted surgery owes its roots to the military, which was looking for a way to perform surgery remotely on wounded soldiers they couldn’t immediately reach. That goal — still not realized — led to the beginnings of today’s robotic-assisted surgery in 1985. In 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval