M. Brian Harkins, MD, FACS | 30 August 2015 | Volume 1, Issue 1
Your Patients Will Be Asking!
Its too expensive! Its adding technology without adding benefit! It will never last!...Robotic Surgery? No! Those were pushback comments in the early 1990’s about the introduction of laparoscopy into the world of surgery. Improved patient outcomes rolled right over those objections to create a new standard in many surgical procedures. But if we recognize that minimally invasive surgery is better for patients, then after 30 years of laparoscopy, why isn’t every procedure being done that way? The short answer...some procedures were just too “hard”. Laparoscopy had limitations that kept it from completely replacing open surgery altogether.
Enter Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopy!! With the addition of a highly sophisticated robotic interface, many of the limitations of laparoscopy have been overcome making the benefits of minimally invasive surgery accessible to greater numbers of patients for many more procedures. The end result is an evolving trend of better pa-
tient outcomes in terms of lengths of stay, complications, post-operative pain, blood loss, and readmissions. Wow! The long awaited upgrade for laparoscopy is finally here!...and its available right here in Tomball!!
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Little did I know when I did my first robotic case on 29 September 2014 that by the end of my first year I would be the second most experienced general surgeon in performing cases with the Da Vinci Xi system in the world, but that’s what has happened! I already have many personal examples of patients who would have likely undergone an open procedure if it weren’t for the robotic platform. The vast majority of these patients have enjoyed the benefits as complication rates have remained low when compared to the previous year. I wish I could say that low meant zero, but that’s just not the reality with surgery and medicine. However, I do have great hope that in the robotic platform I now have the tools and ability to move even closer to that zero complication rate threshold.
In my efforts as the Robotics Chairman of the Department of Surgery I have continued to focus the program on patient safety and staff education. TRMC Administration and Surgical Services have responded in establishing us as the only robotic program in Houston with 24/7 full access to accomplish surgeries on the robot. The evolving standard is always available here!
I am very excited to be on the forefront of this new horizon in general surgery and will continue to offer your patients the most advanced surgical care available. Best of all, they can get that care right here in Tomball.
Intuitive Surgical Incorporated’s first robot was developed in 1997 but the system did not get FDA approval until the year 2000. Improvements over the original resulted in the Da Vinci S release in 2006. In 2009 the DaVinci Si platform furthered propelled the success of the robotic surgery movement with ongoing transition of prostate surgery and malignant gynecological surgery to being almost completely done with the robotic platform. The advanced technology additions to the DaVinci Si platform began to show promise in the adoption by general and colon and rectal surgical specialties. The “game changer” as many surgeons refer to it, was the release of the Da Vinci Xi platform in 2014.
Our first robot at TRMC was the early model DaVinci S which we obtained in 2012. We traded that in for our new DaVinci Xi, the second one to arrive here in the Houston area, in July 2014. The rest, as they say, is history...in the making!!!
Dr. Brian Harkins is a renowned surgeon specializing in advanced, minimally invasive, and robotic surgical techniques. With a dedication to innovation and personalized patient care, he has transformed countless lives by delivering exceptional outcomes.
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