Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery

Or email roboticsurgery@tbh.org

The Brooklyn Hospital Center (TBHC) has one of the finest surgical departments in the New York area. Our expert team of surgeons, physician assistants, nurses and support staff performs more than 10,000 procedures annually and has extensive experience conducting some of the most advanced surgical interventions in the country. We have also been using robotic surgery for several years. In fact, we recently passed the milestone of 1,000 robotic procedures at TBHC.

What are minimally invasive surgeries?
During minimally invasive surgery, the surgeon makes one or more small incisions, which allow very thin tubes to be inserted. The tubes let the doctor slip in tiny video cameras and surgical tools to perform the procedure, using advanced imaging to "see" the surgical site. This means you can have a “big” surgery, but with very small incisions. Robotic surgery is a highly advanced kind of minimally invasive surgery.

With robotic and minimally invasive surgery (as opposed to open, traditional procedures), benefits include:

• Reduced surgical complications
• Decreased blood loss
• Less postoperative pain
• Fewer and smaller scars
• Shorter hospital stay
• Faster recovery time

What are robotic surgeries?
Robotic surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery. The robot can mimic a surgeon’s hand, which gives a surgeon a full range of motion, while also simplifying complex procedures for both the physician and the patient, and can ensure greater precision and quicker recovery time.

Our robot is the highly advanced da Vinci Xi System, which provides an immersive 3D, high-definition vision system for a magnified view, virtually extending the eyes and hands of the surgeon into the patient. Key features include:

• An overhead instrument arm architecture designed to facilitate anatomical access from virtually any position.
• A new endoscope digital architecture that creates a simpler, more compact design with improved vision definition and clarity.
• An ability to attach the endoscope to any arm, providing flexibility for visualizing the surgical site.
• Smaller, thinner arms with newly designed joints that offer a greater range of motion than ever before.
• Longer instrument shafts designed to give surgeons greater operative reach.

At TBHC, robot-assisted surgeries are used in the following areas:

• General Surgery
• Urologic Surgery
• Gynecologic Surgery

Robot-assisted procedures include:

• Gallbladder surgery
• Inguinal hernia repair
• Ventral hernia repair
• Colon resection surgery
• Rectal resection surgery
• Spleen surgery (splenectomy)
• Hysterectomy
• Myomectomy
• Pelvic organ prolapse surgery
• Prostatectomy
• Partial and total nephrectomy
• Cyst removal
• Cystectomy