From an interview with
Dr. Srinivas Kolla
McLeod Cardiothoracic Surgery

By guiding a robot with 3D video, a surgeon achieves greater precision, which is among the many advantages robotic-assisted surgery, as McLeod Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Srinivas Kolla explains.

Here are the main points of Dr. Kolla’s comments:
Traditional thoracic surgery, a procedure performed on the chest for lung diseases, was usually done through a large incision. Patients would stay in the hospital five to seven days with a fair amount of discomfort and pain. When they were sent home, the time to recover would be four to six weeks. If a patient was having cancer surgery and needed further treatments, they would have to wait longer to receive those treatments following their longer surgical recovery.
 
Robotic-assisted surgery eliminates the large incision, makes it a less physiologically demanding and allows the operation to be done with less discomfort, less time in the hospital, shorter recovery times and an earlier return to functionality.
 
As an additional benefit, robotic-assisted surgery provides a more comprehensive operation for lung cancer.  The goal of the robotic-assisted operation is to remove as many lymph nodes as possible. One unique feature of robotic-assisted surgery is that it allows us to see in high-definition stereotactic 3D inside the chest to find all those lymph nodes and then remove them with minimal physical consequence.
 
Because we remove more lymph nodes, along with the primary tumor, we actually render a more complete removal of the cancer. That usually spells better outcomes for patients. From a cancer perspective, I think it’s unparalleled in its ability to provide a more complete operation.

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