da Vinici Robotic surgery at Penn Highalnds

Does Penn Highlands Offer da Vinci^® Robotic-Assisted Surgery?

Yes, Penn Highland Healthcare now offers da Vinci® Robotic-Assisted surgery in Northwest/Central Pennsylvania.

What is da Vinci Robotic-Assisted Surgery?

da Vinci® Surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery where our specially trained surgeons use the da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical system to perform a wide range of delicate and complex operations. The da Vinci Xi System features a magnified 3D high-definition vision system and tiny wristed instruments that bend and rotate far greater than the human wrist. As a result, the da Vinci Xi System enables surgeons to operate with enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control.

Does the robot perform the surgery?

No! Using the da Vinci Surgical System, surgeons perform delicate and complex operations through a few small incisions. The da Vinci System consists of several key components, including:

An ergonomically designed console where the surgeon sits while operating
A patient-side cart with interactive robotic arms
A3D HD vision system
EndoWrist® instruments that bend and rotate far greater than the human wrist

da Vinci software can scale down surgeon’s movements and minimize the effects of a surgeon’s hand tremors on instrument movements. As a result, the da Vinci System enables surgeons to operate with enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control.

Why does Penn Highlands using the da Vinci Surgical System?

Our Goal: Extend Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) To More Patients.
At Penn Highlands Healthcare, we believe that MIS should be the standard of care in surgery. For decades, patients receiving open surgery continued to be the majority for many procedures even when MIS options were available. Finally, the adoption of minimally invasive da Vinci Surgery has changed this for several procedures and has begun changing for others. That’s a major reason why Penn Highlands Healthcare continues to expand our robotic-assisted surgery services, so that fewer and fewer patients will receive open surgery if they qualify for MIS procedures.

Key Potential Patient Benefits Of Da Vinci Surgery Vs. Open Surgery:

A shorter hospital stay
Less blood loss
Fewer complications
Less need for pain medicines
A faster recovery
Smaller incisions associated with minimal scarring

What does our robotic-assisted surgery team offer?

The Robotic-Assisted Surgery Program at Penn Highlands Healthcare has a multidisciplinary surgical team who are specially trained and credentialed to perform robotic-assisted da Vinci Surgery. A dedicated, highly experienced team of anesthesiologists, nurses, assistants and surgical techs are also trained to support each surgeon’s needs during robotic-assisted surgery.

Our da Vinci Robotic-Assisted Surgery Service Lines include: