Da Vinci® robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery
Children’s Memorial Hospital now provides minimally invasive surgical services for children using the da Vinci® robot-assisted surgical system.
Ideal for pediatric urology
For children, the robot-assisted system is particularly well-suited for complex intra-abdominal procedures and reconstructive urological surgery. About 80 percent of its use in children is in urology.
Urology surgeons use the da Vinci system for babies as young as 6 months. Robot-assisted surgery may be offered to treat these urologic conditions in children:
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Urinary tract obstruction
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Urinary reflux (vesicoureteral reflux)
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Urinary and bowel incontinence from neurological conditions
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Complex kidney stones
Patient benefits
The da Vinci robotic system helps surgeons perform complex procedures, usually through three tiny incisions. This means
- Less pain
- Lower risk of infection
- Less scarring
- Shorter hospital stays and quicker recovery for children, compared to open surgery. Children usually are back to all their normal activities within a week.
How it works
The robot-assisted minimally invasive approach allows the surgeon to operate with three interactive robotic arms while sitting in a nearby console. The system translates the surgeon’s hand movements to the robotic instruments that can move in a tiny surgical area with more precision and greater range of motion than the human wrist.
One of the robot’s arms holds a camera that is lowered through a small incision and lets the surgeon see inside the body in high definition 3D images. The system provides up to 10 times magnification, allowing the surgeon to see small structures even more clearly than in open surgery.
Leading experts at the hospital
Children’s Memorial’s urologist Bruce Lindgren, MD, performed the first da Vinci assisted laparoscopic pediatric urological procedure in the greater Chicago area in March 2006.
In 2009, Lindgren and Jennifer Hagerty, DO, also a urologist at Children’s Memorial, published the first report of pediatric robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery for removing a bladder diverticulum (a sac on the bladder that can cause serious problems).
See: Urology 2009;73:299-301.
Beyond the robot
We also offer more options for minimally invasive surgery. Our pediatric surgeons are specially trained in advanced minimally invasive techniques that can be used for a range of procedures that involve the chest (thoracoscopic) or the abdomen (laparoscopic).
Our urologists also perform advanced minimally invasive procedures for conditions including kidney stones, urinary reflux and undescended testicles.
Pediatric surgeons at Children’s Memorial perform minimally invasive surgery in infants as tiny as four pounds born with a malformed lung, a hole in the diaphragm, and other anomalies.
Some procedures, like appendectomy, can even be done with a single incision laparoscopic surgery that leaves no visible scars. More here on minimally invasive surgery »