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Resembling a mechanical octopus, the multi-armed Intuitive daVinci 5 unit has become a growing component and “helping hands” for numerous robotic surgery procedures at CAMC hospitals throughout the state.
A high-resolution monitor enables CAMC surgeons to witness the “handiwork” of the da Vinci 5 during operations. Surgeons can also operate much of the robotics equipment while seated, reducing the physical strain of hours of standing in the operating theater.
Registered Nurse First Assistant and Vandalia Health Regional Robotics Director Marian Campbell watches the da Vinci technology “operate” at a June 21, 2024, demonstration for the public at CAMC Memorial.
Resembling a mechanical octopus, the multi-armed Intuitive daVinci 5 unit has become a growing component and “helping hands” for numerous robotic surgery procedures at CAMC hospitals throughout the state.
A high-resolution monitor enables CAMC surgeons to witness the “handiwork” of the da Vinci 5 during operations. Surgeons can also operate much of the robotics equipment while seated, reducing the physical strain of hours of standing in the operating theater.
Registered Nurse First Assistant and Vandalia Health Regional Robotics Director Marian Campbell watches the da Vinci technology “operate” at a June 21, 2024, demonstration for the public at CAMC Memorial.
Accompanied by mechanical assistance (and “assistants”), CAMC physicians and other staff members demonstrated some of the latest robotic technology during a recent special summit at the CAMC Memorial location in Charleston.
Visitors to CAMC Memorial’s Heart and Vascular Center lobby during the two-hour event on June 21 received hands-on exposure to — and layman-friendly explanations of — how doctors use surgical robots to treat their patients with the advanced technological tools now at their disposal.
CAMC launched the first multispecialty robotic surgery program in West Virginia 17 years ago. Today, nine robots assist CAMC surgeons: four at CAMC Memorial, two at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital and one each at CAMC General, CAMC Charleston Surgical Hospital and CAMC Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill.
CAMC offers multiple procedures with each robotic specialty, including oncologic procedures such as colon resection; esophageal cancer, lung cancers and mediastinal masses; and prostate, bladder and kidney cancers, along with hysterectomy, oophorectomy and lymph node removal for gynecological cancers.
More than 700 robotic procedures are performed at CAMC hospitals every year. Surgical specialists practicing at CAMC have used robots for more than 8,500 procedures since implementing robotic technology in 2007.
“Using a robot during a procedure has benefits for the patient and surgeon,” Dr. Samuel Deem, CAMC’s director of robotic surgery, said. “We continue to expand our program, now performing urology, gynecology, general surgery, cardiac, and thoracic procedures. We have a team of outstanding medical professionals dedicated to advancing our capabilities and improving patient outcomes.”
In October 2023, Deem and CAMC colleague Dr. Stephen Bush achieved a milestone of performing more than 1,500 robotic procedures. Deem specializes in urologic oncology. Bush specializes in gynecologic oncology. Both physicians were reaccredited as Master Robotic Surgeons last year as well.
CAMC offers multiple robotic procedures with each specialty, including several oncologic procedures including: colon resection, esophageal cancer, lung cancers and mediastinal masses, prostate, bladder and kidney cancers, as well as hysterectomy, oophorectomy and lymph node removal for gynecological cancers.
CAMC added a robot model that included a teaching dual console in 2012, permitting the attending surgeon to maintain control of the procedure while directing and training resident physicians. CAMC surgeons began using the da Vinci robot at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital in October 2019. In March, CAMC urologists used a single-port version of the daVinci robot to assist with surgery for the first time. The single-port version uses a single, small incision rather than four or five incisions.
“CAMC has always allowed us the opportunity to be at the forefront of providing state-of-the-art care. By purchasing seven daVinci robots, including the single-port technology, we are driving innovation in the community and state, allowing access to the same care provided in larger metropolitan areas. It’s technically more demanding on the surgeon as we learn the new technique, but the patient benefit is worth it. Smaller and/or fewer incisions cause less pain and allow quicker discharge — usually same-day — and faster healing,” Deem said.
The single-port da Vinci robot is FDA-approved solely for urology procedures at present. For other specialties, such as gynecology and colorectal surgeries, procedures, as part of a clinical trial under Institutional Review Board supervision, are required; the trials are being pursued for implementation by CAMC administrators and physicians.
“Robotics is becoming the standard of care,” said Marian Campbell, a Registered Nurse First Assistant who also serves as Vandalia Health’s Regional Robotics Director. “The benefits that most people don’t see are the benefits interoperatively for the surgeon. The visualization through these cameras is incredible. It’s three-dimensional and it just allows them to see things that we’ve not been able to visualize in that way previously.
“It’s changed the game more commonly in allowing us access to areas that were previously difficult to access. We implemented our thoracic program recently, which is allowing us to treat lung cancers in very early stages of the disease. That allows for a better cure rate,” she said.
Campbell said the transition into robotics technology has been relatively seamless and generally embraced enthusiastically among CAMC medical personnel and patients alike. “Just like laproscopic surgery, in the beginning, we had the naysayers, those who didn’t believe and those who didn’t want to transition into that but eventually were forced to and that became the standard of care. Now robotics is becoming the standard of care here,” Campbell said.
“All three CAMC campuses now have robots, as well as Mon Health in Morgantown. We plan to bring the Teays Valley hospital into the picture in the near future.”
Campbell emphatically foresees greater advancement in robotics efficacy and use in the surgical theater. “Particularly with AI,” she said. “That seems to be a controversial subject with a lot of people right now, but, at the end of the day, it is a technological advancement, and, obviously, we’re just going to keep moving forward.”
CAMC was reaccredited as a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery by the Surgical Review Corporation last year. Established in 2003, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based, nonprofit SRC is a patient safety organization devoted to achieving health care excellence by developing and administering accreditation programs for medical professionals, surgeons, hospitals, and freestanding outpatient facilities internationally. The SRC accredited CAMC as a Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery originally in 2020, following an onsite visit by SRC representatives.
Metro reporter Clint Thomas can be reached at cthomas@hdmediallc.com or by calling 304-348-1232.
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