Patients and Visitors

• Overview
• Patient Education

• Procedures

• Mitral Valve Repair
• Robotic Modified Maze
• Robotic Closure of ASD
• Left Ventricular Lead Placement for Heart Failure
• Benefits of Robotic Surgery

How Robotic Surgery Works

Cardiac robotic surgery minimizes the pain, scarring and risk associated with surgery while increasing the likelihood of a fast recovery so patients can return to their daily activities as soon as three to four days after surgery. 

Cardiac robotic surgery allows surgeons to operate on the hearts of adults and children through tiny openings in the chest, eliminating the need for sternotomy, cracking the breast bone and spreading the ribs.  

Surgeons use a sophisticated robot, the da Vinci® Surgical System* and thin instruments to perform the procedures.  The robotic arms remain steady at all times and dampen the “shake” of the human hand.  The camera magnifies the surgical field up to 10 times and provides surgeons with three-dimensional vision instead of two-dimensional vision with conventional open-heart procedures.  Magnification improves the ability to recognize and control bleeding from small vessels and reduces blood loss.

Patient Benefits

Data suggests that minimally invasive cardiac robotic surgery offers numerous potential benefits over conventional cardiac surgeries, including:

• Shorter hospital stay, which reduces costs.
• Less pain and scarring.
• Less risk of wound infections.
• Less blood loss and fewer transfusions.
• Faster recovery and quicker return to normal activities.

Numerous clinical trials and thousands of post-marketing procedures demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of cardiac robotic surgery. 

For more information on Saint Joseph’s Visconti Center for Robotics, visit http://www.stjosephsatlanta.org/center-for-robotic-surgery/index.html. 

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the da Vinci® Surgical System in 2000.