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Robotic-assisted surgery symposium at Winter Haven HospitalWINTER HAVEN, Nov 01, 2011 (The Ledger - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Several surgeons' passion for robotic-assisted microsurgery came together to create an international society promoting awareness of the potential uses of robotics in many types of surgeries. The society's first Multispecialty Robotic Microsurgery Symposium will take place Friday through Sunday at Winter Haven Hospital and Disney's BoardWalk Inn. "This is a very unique grassroots meeting with about 60 speakers from around the globe from different specialities demonstrating and discussing the potential new applications of robotic assistance in microsurgery," said Dr. Sijo Parekattil, director of robotic surgery and urology at Winter Haven Hospital. He is one of the directors of the Robotic Assisted Microsurgical and Endoscopy Society, who created the symposium, which officials said had over 160 people registered as of Monday. The first day's session, a mixture of lectures and hands-on training, will be at Winter Haven Hospital. Three robotic training stations will be set up in its operating rooms. Saturday and Sunday's sessions will be at the hotel in Lake Buena Vista. The first live broadcast of a robotic vasectomy reversal case will be made from Winter Haven Hospital to the hotel at 10 a.m. Saturday, Parekattil said. Those attending the symposium will learn that urology and cancer surgeries, which led the expansion of robotics into Polk County, aren't the only specialty areas where robotics are used. Physicians will discuss the use of robotics in medical areas that include urology, gynecology, anesthesia, nerve grafting, orthopedics, ophthalmology, infertility, vascular surgery, nerve surgery, plastic surgery and ear-nose-and-throat procedures. "We've found we can do more complex things than we could before," said Dr. Lennox Hoyte, a scheduled speaker from the University of South Florida who specializes in urogynecology. "I do a lot surgically now I could not have imaged two years ago." Winter Haven gynecologist Dr. James Booker also will speak on robotics in gynecology. Attendance is free for nurses, physician assistants, medical students, residents, fellows and advanced-practice nurses, with admission discounted to $200 for Florida physicians. Although not designed for the general public, ideas discussed at the symposium ultimately could influence decisions doctors and hospitals make about the extent to which they will invest in robotics. Polk State President Eileen Holden will announce a new program at the symposium that would let registered nurses and surgical technicians earn a robot-assisted surgery credential through PSC. They would do online study and complete a two-day workshop in which they would use cadavers and WHH's robotic surgical system. WHH officials will give their perspective on setting up a robotic system during the symposium. In Polk County, Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Winter Haven Hospital and Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center have da Vinci robotic surgical equipment. As physicians become proficient in robotics, Hoyte said, patients gain more opportunities for smaller incision surgeries, better outcomes, lower complications and faster recoveries. As an example, he mentioned a patient who had serious complications when surgical mesh used for a previous procedure perforated her bowel. Using small-incision robotic surgery, he removed the mesh and repaired the bowel. She left the hospital in two days, Hoyte said, while traditional open-incision surgery would have kept her there for roughly a week. Hysterectomy is another procedure in which he uses robotic surgery regularly. Technology displayed at the symposium will include the first Syndaver Biosynthetic cadaver microsurgery lab, a prototype robotic microprobe from Vascular Technology, a five-arm robotic surgery platform from Karl-Storz and a robotic surgery platform from Amadeus, Parekattil said. Parekattil also is an assistant professor and co-director of robotic surgery of the University of Florida College of Medicine's urology department. The hospital's urology program is affiliated with UF, which will have speakers at the event. Urology, followed by gynecology and then general surgery, are the medical fields with the most robotics experience, said Dr. Stacey Berner, an orthopedic hand surgeon from Maryland and another RAMSES director. "There is not a whole lot of hand surgery being done (robotically) here," Berner said. He did his first robotic-assisted hand surgery to get the credentials to do them at Northwest Hospital in suburban Maryland under the monitoring of France's Dr. Philipe Liverneaux, another director. Berner is passionate about the potential for robotics, although he said it isn't something every surgeon wants to do. "There's not a lot of hard and fast data that suggests operating with robotic is better than other surgeries" because it's relatively new, he said, but he added "The implications of the robot in the future are going to be huge. ___ (c)2011 The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) Visit The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) at www.theledger.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |