Learn About Dr. Moore & Robotic “daVinci” Surgery

Hi- I’m Dr. Patrick Moore, General Surgeon in Murrieta, CA. I’m talking with you today about robotic surgery, often referred to as “daVinci” surgery. I have been performing surgery with the assistance of the daVinci robot for the past 6 years. 390 of your friends and neighbors have benefitted from the application of robotic surgical technology with me, 100 of them in just the past 12 months. To understand why this is a big deal, we must first touch upon the three primary types of surgery:

1. Open: Think big incision. Surgeon stands over the patient with his/her hands inside.

2. Laparoscopic: Think of a few small incisions through which the surgeon places a specialized telescope and handheld instruments through ports placed in your abdominal wall. Your abdomen is expanded using carbon dioxide gas (inert) to give the surgeon space to work.

3. Robot-Assisted: Similar to laparoscopic, but the ports are attached to the arms of the daVinci robot. The instruments placed through these ports are controlled by the surgeon from a console which is typically 20 feet or so away from the patient. It is important to understand that the “robot” is not performing the surgery. It moves in a very precise manner, mimicking the surgeon’s motion at the console.

Laparoscopy and Robot-Assisted Laparoscopy are what is often referred to as “minimally-invasive surgery” (MIS). Why is MIS important to you as the patient? First, virtually everyone involved with the surgical profession in the United States agrees that MIS is better for the patient than open surgery in most situations. Hundreds of studies throughout the medical literature show that MIS decreases surgical site infections, decreases surgical complications, decreases post-operative pain, and as you probably have already concluded- increases patient satisfaction scores.

Here is an example of the benefit of performing MIS with the robot: Not uncommonly, a laparoscopic procedure converts to “open” because the surgeon is unable to safely progress laparoscopically. The robotic approach significantly reduces such conversions. Why? Because the surgeon can see better with 3D high definition visualization and is using “wristed” tools, each with a tremendous range-of-motion. These advantages allow the surgeon to keep difficult procedures minimally-invasive that would otherwise convert to open.

In addition to the benefits for the patient, performing surgery with the assistance of the robot is also an advantage for me. Performing open or laparoscopic surgery over a long period of time causes injuries to many surgeons. These injuries often involve the neck, shoulders, and hands, and are caused by the accumulation of many thousands of hours of looking down performing meticulous tasks.

Please message us if you have any questions regarding about the information I have shared here and how it pertains to you, or about any medical condition that you feel I may be able to help you with. Be well…Patrick Moore, MD