Riverside Healthcare | The Journey | Summer 2021

8 RiversideHealthcare.org Robots Surgeons that use the da Vinci XI robotic surgery system at Riverside Healthcare include: ● Grazelda Kwakye-Ackah (Dr. Zelda), MD, OB-GYN ● Michael Gambla, MD, urology ● Paul Rowland, MD, general surgery ● Kay Timbers, MD, general surgery ● Gretchen Williams, DO, general surgery Tiny cuts, big benefits Robotic surgery is similar to laparoscopic surgery—a way of operating through small incisions. For both procedures, surgeons use a few small cuts, rather than one longer incision that is used during traditional, or open, surgery. These minimally invasive approaches allow for: ● Quicker recovery. ● Less pain and bleeding. ● Reduced risks of infection. ● Shorter hospital stays. ● Smaller scars. TOP: From left, Gretchen Williams, DO; Kay Timbers, MD; and Paul Rowland, MD, pose with the da Vinci XI system. BOTTOM: The steady hands of Kay Timbers, MD, guide the da Vinci XI in surgery. RIGHT: Kay Timbers, MD, performs surgery with the da Vinci XI. If your doctor has recommended that you have robotic surgery, you’re hardly alone. This high-tech procedure is now being used for surgeries as diverse as hysterectomies, hip replacements and heart surgeries. But what is it exactly? Or perhaps more pertinently, what is it not, since its name suggests that robots perform the surgery? That ’s wrong—doctors do. And that is just one important fact to know about robotic surgery. Here are some more. During robotically assisted surgery, the surgeon sits at a computer station and controls the robot’s arms, which have tiny surgical instruments attached to them. A thin tube with a camera attached to one of the instruments allows the surgeon to view a magnified 3D image of the body as the surgery takes place. The robotic arms match the surgeon’s hand motions as the procedure is performed. That means the surgeon is in control. What to know about r botic surgery