News New Surgical Robot Offers Patients Less Pain, Shorter Recovery Time

AUSTIN, TX - (September 30, 2009) - Seton Medical Center Williamson is the first hospital in Central Texas to offer patients the latest generation of the da Vinci® robotic surgical system. With the da Vinci® Si HD system, the most advanced surgical platform available in the market, physicians at Seton Medical Center Williamson are performing many different gynecology, urogynecology, urology and cardiology procedures with greater precision.

The investment in new technology and robotics at Seton Medical Center Williamson provides their surgeons the ability to minimize health risks while providing the same benefit of traditional open surgery. The most complex surgeries can be performed through incisions the size of keyholes. The surgeon views a magnified, high-resolution 3D image of the operative site while his hands are at the controls of a state-of-the-art robotic platform.

Examples of the types of surgeries performed with the da Vinci® system include prostatectomies, hysterectomies, pelvic reconstructions, mitral valve repairs, and more.

Dr. Tomas Antonini, a board certified OB/Gyn who specializes in urogynecology, was the first physician to perform a surgery at Seton Medical Center Williamson with the new da Vinci® system. His skills with the robotic system have benefitted many patients, including Ina Mahnick, a 73-year-old woman who suffered from a prolapse (falling) of her pelvic floor organs, e.g., uterus, bladder. More than 120,000 women each year undergo surgery to correct this condition.

To correct Mahnick's prolapse, Dr. Antonini performed a sacrocolpopexy with da Vinci®. In this procedure, a mesh is used to hold the anatomy in its correct position. The surgical incision was a fraction of the size of that used with traditional open surgery.

"The da Vinci® system enables me to perform even the most complex and delicate procedures through very small incisions with greater precision," said Dr. Antonini.

For the patient, benefits include significantly less pain, less blood loss, less scarring, reduced risk of infection, shorter recovery time, a quicker return to normal daily activities, and in many cases, better clinical outcomes.

"I never experienced what you'd consider real pain after the surgery," said Mahnick. "There was only soreness."

The total cost of bringing the da Vinci® system to the hospital was about $2 million. Seton Williamson Foundation raised about $1.2 million in private donations to purchase the machine.