Beaumont offers patients the robotic laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure, a minimally invasive robotic procedure for gallbladder removal. During a laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure, the surgeon sits at a console viewing 3-D, high-definition images while using controls below the display to move robotic arms with attached surgical instruments. The system translates the surgeon’s hand, wrist and finger movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient. The surgery can be performed in less than one hour with a typical hospital stay of two hours.
Unlike traditional robotic surgeries that require three to four small incisions used as access ports for the robotic arms, the new technology allows for a single incision at the belly button where instruments are placed and the diseased organ is removed.
Most people who require gallbladder removal are candidates for the robotic, single-incision surgery. According to the American College of Surgeons, surgery is the recommended treatment for gallbladder pain from gallstones and nonfunctioning gallbladders.
About 1.2 million gallbladder removal surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year, including about 12,000 performed in metro Detroit. It’s estimated that 80 percent of elective gallbladder removal surgeries could be done using the single-port, robotic-assisted approach.
Benefits of the New Robotic Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Procedure
Benefits of laparoscopic cholecystectomy can include:
- Minimal scarring
- Less pain
- Less bleeding
- Faster recovery
- Shorter hospital stay- enhancing quality and safety
First Single-Incision, Robotic Assisted Gallbladder Removal
A surgical team at Beaumont Hospital, Troy performed Michigan’s first single-incision, robotic-assisted gallbladder removal surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy). Led by Bruce McIntosh, M.D., section head of General Surgery at Beaumont, Troy, the team removed the gallbladders of three local patients through robotic surgeries through a belly button incision of less than one inch. The Food and Drug Administration approved the new procedure in Dec. 2011 for the Intuitive da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System.