Cardiothoracic Surgery

Robotic surgery is a major advance for cardiothoracic surgeons who must operate in a small area bounded by the rib cage. The da Vinci® Xi surgical robot operates through small incisions. The only tissue cut is the skin since deeper tissues are spread apart gently. The da Vinci® robot rotates around a pivot point near the patient's ribs, minimizing physical pressure on sensitive nerves and tissues. This can assist in decreasing post-operative pain and can help hasten recovery.

Procedures

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a surgical procedure that improves blood flow to the heart for patients with blocked coronary arteries. Robotic CABG is a relatively new minimally invasive surgical technique. It uses surgical instruments and a camera attached to the arms of a robotic machine, which are controlled by the heart surgeon via a computer console.

Mitral valve repair

Robotically assisted mitral valve surgery is a type of minimally invasive heart surgery performed by a cardiac surgeon, on the mitral valve with an endoscopic, closed chest approach.

Robotic lung surgery

The most common lung procedure performed by the surgical robot is the removal of lung tumours or cancers. The robotic assistance aids in visualisation and precision and also enables the surgeon to remove the lung tumour without having to open the chest.

Robotic thymectomy

Robotic assisted thymectomy (removal of tumour of the thymus) can remove the thymus using a keyhole approach to avoid splitting the breastbone.

Surgeons

Dr Levi Bassin