A surgeon at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
has performed a groundbreaking robotic laparoscopic procedure on a 35-year-old
pregnant patient of Galveston, whose cervix was too short to sustain a
pregnancy.
Dr. Sami Kilic, chief of minimally invasive gynecology and
research at UTMB, is the first surgeon in the world reported to have used
robotically assisted, ultrasound-guided laparoscopic surgery to successfully
tighten a pregnant patient’s incompetent cervix.Kilic performed the surgery in
December 2011 at UTMB’s John Sealy Hospital.
When performed traditionally, abdominal cerclage surgery requires
a large incision and a long period of recovery.Kilic’s new procedure left the
patient with only three tiny abdominal scars.
“The recovery was amazing. Two days later I was able to sit on the
floor at home and play with my toddler,” new mum Leonora Orejuela said.Stitches
to the cervix during surgery must be precise; a suture placed a hair’s breadth
the wrong way can puncture either the amniotic sac or a major blood vessel in
the mother.
With the dual visualization screen of the da Vinci Si robotic
surgical system, Kilic was able to view a real-time ultrasound image on one
screen and the operative field via scope camera on another screen, side by side,
at the same time he performed the surgery.
This two-screen system offers unsurpassed visualisation in a
laparoscopic surgical situation.
Kilic is an international pioneer in gynecologic robotic surgical
techniques and training protocols who was hired by UTMB five years ago to
spearhead a state-of-the-art robotic surgery training programme.
Orejuela, the patient, was discharged home the next day after a
one-night stay in the hospital.
Orejuela proceeded to have an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy,
going into labor at 36 weeks.
She delivered a healthy baby girl, Lucia Munoz, 6 pounds, 11.5
ounces, by Caesarean section.
The
procedure is published online in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology
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