NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL-CHEROKEE
NOW OFFERS ROBOTIC SURGERY
August, 2007 - More than 35,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer in Georgia this year and more of those patients are diagnosed at Northside Hospital than at any other hospital in Atlanta. It’s for this reason that Northside, the leading hospital in Georgia for cancer treatment, has expanded its robotic surgery program to Northside Hospital-Cherokee.
The daVinci™ Surgical System allows the surgeon to manipulate robotic arms, which mimic the surgeons motion, to perform the procedure with greater dexterity than humanly possible. This minimally invasive procedure involves making just a few small incisions for the tools and small camera, which allows the surgeon to view a full-color, magnified, 3-D image of the surgical site. The superior motion of the robotic arms and the ability to view the surgical area through high-definition magnification enhances the surgeon’s skills, which provide a patient a number of benefits including shorter hospital stay and recovery time.
A leader in providing state-of-the-art surgical services, more surgeries are performed at Northside Hospital than at any other hospital in Georgia. As such, Northside also leads the state in robotic surgery – performing more robotic procedures than any other Georgia hospital – and ranks in the top 10 percent of all robotic programs (5 percent for GYN procedures) in the country.
“It’s not just the state-of-the-art technology that leads to better outcomes, but the surgeon’s experience that is important,” says Vicki Barnett R.N., director of surgical services, Northside Hospital. “Many of the surgeons on staff at Northside are nationally recognized pioneers in laparoscopic surgery. This level of expertise in minimally invasive surgery is critical in the success of utilizing new technology, like the daVinci robot.”
And now the surgeons, who have been performing these procedures in Atlanta for years, are bringing their knowledge and expertise to Cherokee County.
Northside Hospital-Cherokee is currently performing robotic-assisted surgery for prostatectomy (prostate removal) and GYN procedures (hysterectomy and laparoscopy). The benefits to the patient from using robotic technology are unprecedented and include smaller incisions, less pain and scarring, shorter hospital stay and recovery time, less blood loss and need for transfusions and reduced risk of infection. For patients undergoing a prostatectomy, robotic surgery also means a smaller risk of impotence/erectile dysfunction and smaller risk of leakage/urinary incontinence.
“The opportunities that this technology brings to Northside Hospital-Cherokee are exciting,” said Dr. Zachary Voeltz, urologist and the physician who successfully performed the first robotic prostatectomy at Northside Hospital-Cherokee in July. “This technology does not replace a surgeon’s skills. Rather, it improves what we do and allows us to stay at the forefront of the medical field.”
Northside Hospital first introduced robotic prostatectomy using the daVinci Surgical System at its Atlanta campus in 2005 and now leads the state with more than 500 procedures performed. Northside Hospital has successfully treated more prostate and gynecologic cancer cases than any other hospital in Atlanta. Robotic surgery is one of the latest technologies used in the treatment of these cancers.
For more information about Northside Hospital’s
robotic surgical services, call 404-851-8200 or visit us online at
www.northside.com for a free physician referral.
