Yesterday I removed an 11 cm ovarian mass from a 68 year old woman, using the da Vinci Robotic System at Baylor Medical Center at Frisco. What’s the big deal? Her largest incision was 1.5 cm, she lost less than 50 cc of blood while removing her uterus and ovaries (Robot Assisted Total Vaginal Hysterectomy, Bilateral Salpingoopherectomy) and she went home in the morning. Ninety-nine percent of OB/GYN physicians in America would have cut her open (laparotomy) from her pubic bone to her belly button and she would have stayed in the hospital for at least 3 days with easily 6 times the blood loss.
Moral of the story, keep up with the latest training and your patients will benefit immensely.