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Reprinted with permission, Courtesy, Asbury Park Press, a Gannett Co. newspaper.
BY MICHAEL AMSEL
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER, New Jersey, August 17, 2007 - Community Medical Center has a robotic surgery system called the da Vinci, which is able to perform less invasive surgery.
In July 2000, the Food and Drug Administration cleared da Vinci as an endoscopic instrument control system for use in abdominal surgical procedures, such as removal of the gallbladder and surgery for severe heartburn.
In June 2001, the FDA cleared da Vinci for use during laparascopic removal of the prostate.
For more information on the surgery at Community Medical Center, call (888) 724-7123.
Ocean County Freeholder Director John P. Kelly was faced with a number of options after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Kelly opted to have the cancerous cells removed at Community Medical Center through a robotic surgery system called the da Vinci, which the hospital purchased in May.
Robot-assisted surgery, which was approved by the FDA in 2000, is minimally invasive and the procedure is designed to produce less trauma and pain for patients.
Kelly went in for his surgery on July 18, and was home enjoying breakfast with his family the following day.
"If you need surgery, this is as good as it gets," Kelly said. "I never had a single stitch. This is something that has not been available in Ocean County before and I think it's important to get the word out that you can get this procedure done right here."
With da Vinci, surgeons don't move endoscopic instruments directly with their hands. Instead, they sit at a console several feet from the operating table and perform surgical tasks by guiding the movement of the robotic arms in a process known as telemanipulation.
The system has a video camera that gives doctors a magnified internal view of a surgical site on a television screen. It is three-dimensional, which gives surgeons better depth perception as they probe the nerves.
The three-dimensional lens system magnifies the surgical area up to 10 times, doctors say. A second surgeon stays beside the patient, adjusting the camera and instruments if needed.
"The visualization is about a thousand times better than it is with open surgery," said Dr. Victor J. Ferlise, the urologist who performed Kelly's surgery. "You can see the nerves as you are saving them. There is tremendous benefit to the patient."
Dr. John L. Stoneham, a urologist at the hospital, elaborated on the benefits.
"The hospital stay for the patient is cut down to one overnight stay as opposed to an average of five to seven days," Stoneham said. "The patients who undergo open surgery have a significantly high blood transfusion rate, whereas the transfusion rate for this (surgery) is less than 1 percent. To summarize, the patient has less transfusion rate, a smaller incision, less risk of incontinence and less patient discomfort."
Another urologist, Dr. Paul F. Low, said da Vinci is becoming the standard for surgical care.
"That is how much better it is than open surgery," Low said. "Not all patients are candidates for this because their prostates may be too big or there may be other issues. But for anyone who is eligible for this surgery, it is the best."
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