JONESBORO – Building upon 16 years of successful robotic surgeries, surgeons at St. Bernards Medical Center have begun using a new, highly-advanced surgical robot that can improve outcomes for patients and give doctors better insights and accuracy.

This new robot, the Intuitive da Vinci 5® surgical system, specializes in minimally invasive surgical procedures for urology, gynecology, thoracic and general surgeries. Since St. Bernards began a partnership with Intuitive in 2008, its surgeons have performed more than 7,500 surgical procedures using previous da Vinci iterations. St. Bernards General Surgeon Willie Harper, M.D. completed the hospital’s first da Vinci 5 procedure, a gastric bypass surgery. This procedure marks the first surgery in Arkansas using da Vinci 5.

Dr. Harper explains the benefits of using the newest, most technologically advanced robot in the da Vinci surgical series.

“The newest da Vinci helps us provide our patients the most up-to-date and innovative surgical care,” Dr. Harper said. “This new system allows us to perform our procedures with excellent efficiency and precision through enhanced visualization and the latest in electrosurgical technology. The da Vinci 5 is another great step in achieving the goal of the best care possible for our surgical patients.”

The da Vinci 5 has more than 150 new design innovations, translating a surgeon’s hand movements into smaller, more precise actions. Its key enhancements include:

• Force feedback technology that allows a surgeon to feel resistance when operating on patient tissue. This resistance potentially reduces the amount of force used;
• Better imaging, such as more accurate colors and a higher-resolution, realistic 3-D image;
• Better ergonomics for greater surgeon comfort and surgical viewing;
• More than 10,000 times the computing power of da Vinci Xi.

The da Vinci 5 system marks the ninth robotic surgical system at St. Bernards Medical Center, the most for a hospital in Arkansas. Uses of robotic surgery at the hospital include colorectal, lung, esophageal, general, gynecologic, joint, neurosurgery and urologic procedures.

A recent 10-year meta-analysis from Intuitive looked at seven robotic-assisted surgical (RAS) procedures. It measured health outcomes of using robots in surgery versus traditional laparoscopic procedures and open surgeries. The analysis discovered that patients undergoing RAS procedures spent fewer days in the hospital as well as decreased their likelihood of needing a blood transfusion and having post-surgery complications.

St. Bernards Vice President of Surgery Connie Hill, DNP, describes the da Vinci 5 system as a community investment.

“Surgery encompasses both life-saving and life-enhancing procedures,” said Hill. “Many of us have needed or have loved ones who have needed those services. Anytime we can equip our team with another tool to perform those procedures, we do it, knowing it changes lives throughout our region.”