A cut above the rest
ROBOTIC SURGERY GETS LESS INVASIVE
A GEELONG doctor has been the first in regional Australia to complete a cutting-edge surgery using robotic technology.
Dr Sam Sabary used da Vinci Xi technology, the latest model of the da Vinci robot, for a single-site hysterectomy.
The single-site surgery means a small incision, between 2-2.5cm, is made at the belly button, before curved cannulas are inserted.
The procedure results in a less invasive procedure with very minimal scarring.
“Simply, because it is such a small hole … you’re not touching … much of the body,” Dr Sabary said.
“That is the trick of the minimum invasive surgery, to have minimal touch to the organs and minimum cut to the abdomen.”
A tiny camera is put inside the patient to help the doctor.
Dr Sabary, an obstetrician gynaecologist, IVF specialist and robotic surgeon, said he performed the first single-site hysterectomy in regional Australia using the new technology two weeks ago.
He then operated on Ocean Grove resident Christine Lourie on Tuesday, who had her uterus, fallopian tubes and an ovary removed after suffering from endometriosis for more than 25 years.
A hysterectomy involves the removal of the uterus and can include other reproductive organs. Hysterectomies can be carried out using keyhole surgery or open surgery.
The large robot at Geelong Private Hospital has been used for cases of multiple-site hysterectomies, where multiple incisions need to be made.
But a software upgrade means it is now capable of single-site hysterectomies.
Dr Sabary said the tech- nique could probably be used on half of patients needing hysterectomies.
“For example, if you have a very big uterus, it’s impossible, because the space between the two instruments is too small to move,” he said.
He went to the US for a course to become accredited to do the new procedure and said he was planning on using the technology a lot more.
Geelong Private Hospital is the only place in the region where the single-site procedure, using the da Vinci Xi robotic technology, can be done.