(Photo credit: Ken Jarvis/Flickr)
With technology evolving rapidly, it’s no wonder that researchers have stepped up to the plate and created robots to assist with surgeries.
Robots have gained popularity in operating rooms because they’re able to do procedures in a minimally invasive manner.
Using robotic surgery for children with heart diseases cut down the recovery time needed in a hospital with surgeries resulting in less trauma and scarring, but operations lasted half an hour longer, according to a study by the University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center.
Children operated on by the da Vinci robot for a rare cardiovascular heart defect needed two days of hospital recovery, while children operated on by a surgeon for the same condition had a four-day recovery period.
The da Vinci robot inserts a miniature camera into the surgery site and gives surgeons an enhanced 3D view of the area. Doctors sit behind screen to control the robot’s hands to conduct the operation. It can be used in multiple types of surgeries including prostatectomies, hysterectomies, nephrectomies and some cardiac surgeries.
The robot has gained notoriety in the medical sector in the United States with 1,370 hospitals using them, but Canadian hospitals have been slower in their uptake due to the cost of these systems with only a dozen surgical robots being used in big city hospitals, according to a 2013 article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Doctors across Canada are using the robot to conduct ground-breaking surgeries including removing a penny-sized lung tumour at the Toronto General Hospital, removing a pancreatic tumour at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and conducting a coronary artery bypass procedure at the London Health Sciences Centre University Hospital.
In Canada, a prostatectomy is the most common procedure done by the surgical robot and cardiac surgery is done the most infrequently, according to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
Unfortunately, mistakes happen in emergency rooms which can lead to complications that have a large impact on someone’s life, whether it’s due to a nurse’s heavy workload or the hospital weekend effect. Canadian hospitals are continuing to improve their care through better quality control with diagnostic images or new drug legislation to remove dangerous drugs from shelves sooner, but
While these machines are meant to improve a patient’s health, it’s important to be aware of the facts before deciding whether you would prefer a robotic-assisted operation or a surgeon operating on you.
The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling all types of injuries for over 40 years including injuries from negligent medical workers. We understand the impacts injuries can have on your life and we know how to help you. Call us at 416-920-4242. Set up a free consultation and come talk with us.
Greg Neinstein
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