In the Summer 2007 issue, Healthy & Wise featured Bridgeport Hospital physicians using robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery for urological and prostate cancer procedures. Patients who undergo surgery using this new method usually experience less scarring and a faster return to their daily routines. Bridgeport Hospital surgeons are now using the robot-assisted minimally invasive technique for select gynecological procedures..

Say your doctor recommends a hysterectomy to address a precancerous condition. You’re worried about the procedure and the recovery. You think, How long will I be in the hospital? How long until I’m feeling – and looking – "myself " again?

The answer may be “Sooner than you think!” thanks to a highly sophisticated tool in Bridgeport Hospital’s surgeons’ tool box, the da Vinci “S” Surgical System.

This complex set of robotic arms (miniature instruments) and eyes (visualization technology) allows Bridgeport Hospital surgeons to control every precise movement with increased sensory capabilities:

Touch: The doctor can manipulate mechanical fingers to perform delicate procedures with pinpoint accuracy.

Sight: A sophisticated viewing system intensely magnifies the area undergoing the operation.

If you’re a candidate for hysterectomy, ask your doctor about your treatment options. Here is one way Bridgeport Hospital physicians use robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery to treat gynecological conditions in their patients:

Gynecologic Oncology

Surgery: Hysterectomy

Traditional Solution: Large incision and scar, significant pain, two- to eight-week recovery.

Minimally Invasive Solution: Fewer incisions, tiny scars, less pain, a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery.

Recovery from a traditional hysterectomy can be long and painful and leave a significant scar. “The use of robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery has dramatically shortened recovery time for my patients,” says Chief of Gynecologic Oncology Masoud Azodi, MD, who has performed more than 100 procedures with the da Vinci "S" Surgical System. "Most women are back to their daily activities in weeks rather than months."

Through several tiny one- to twocentimeter incisions, Dr. Azodi skillfully controls the instruments which are equipped with a miniature camera that provides 3D viewing to better see a woman’s anatomy and work in smaller areas around the various organs in the abdomen.

Dr. Azodi closes the tiny incisions with sutures or surgical skin glue. Both leave miniscule scars that, he says, eventually are not noticeable at all.

"The robot-assisted minimally invasive surgeries I’ve performed have significantly improved the quality of life for my patients," says Dr. Azodi. "I strongly believe that patients should always inquire about micro-invasive surgery prior to agreeing to large laparotomy incisions."

For a referral to an expert physician affiliated with Bridgeport Hospital, call us toll free, 24/7, at 1-888-357-2396.