Mount Druitt resident, Craig Duggan is an avid bike rider and loves to keep mobile. Whether he is riding his bike to work or for leisure, he travels everywhere with it. Yet if you've seen Craig of late zip down to his local shopping complex, you'd be hard pressed to tell that he just had major surgery three weeks ago.
Dr Walid Barto and Dr Ewan MacDermid with the da Vinci Xi
Diagnosed with complicated diverticular disease - a condition that affects a person's bowel - Craig discussed his condition with Nepean Hospital colorectal surgeon, Dr Walid Barto to find out what options he had to address the discomfort and pain he was experiencing.
Craig was advised to undergo surgery and when faced with the recovery time of an open or laparoscopic procedure, which can be quite invasive, Craig opted for the help of robotic technology along with Dr Barto's skills to address his illness.
Craig remembers the days post operation vividly.
"I remember Dr Barto coming into the room a day after my surgery saying, 'What are you doing? Let's get you up and walking.' I'm glad for it because I was up and out of the hospital just after two days," explains Craig.
"My recovery has been remarkable. I've only got 4 keyhole marks to show for the surgery. It's amazing to think if I had more traditional surgery I'd be out of work for months."
Craig's rapid recovery is one many patients are now experiencing thanks to robotic-assisted surgery.
At Nepean Hospital robotic surgical systems are ensuring surgeons have the most advanced set of instruments available to them when performing complex surgeries.
For over a year now the da Vinci Xi robot has been in use in the Hospital's operating theatres enabling surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries.
The state-of-the-art surgical robot is able to capture a 3D high-definition view of a surgical area and translates a surgeon's hand movements via a console in real time, allowing the user to operate on a patient with pinpoint accuracy through a few small incisions.
The colorectal surgery team has benefitted greatly from the enhancements of the Xi surgical robot and, just recently, performed their 100th robotic-assisted surgery using the da Vinci.
Dr Barto is an experienced colorectal surgeon and has used the robot to help treat patients like Craig who have bowel or intestinal tract problems, as well as provide treatment for people who have more complex conditions such as bowel cancer.
The introduction of robotic-assisted technology within operating theatres, in particular the da Vinci Xi robot, has seen Dr Barto's patients not only spend less time in hospital, but also recover quicker.
"There have been encouraging findings that have highlighted that robotic surgery not only improves patient outcomes with quicker recovery and shorter length of hospital stay, but also can have a positive impact on the health care system," says Dr Barto.
"With robotic-assisted surgeries we have the ability to perform more complex procedures, achieve a reduced length of stay for the patient and have very low complications. Traditional surgeries often leave patients with at least a 6-day hospital stay. Using robotics we can cut this to a third in some instances and have people discharged in a little as two days post operation."
The 100th colorectal robotic-assisted surgery milestone continues a long standing relationship with Device Technologies, with Nepean Hospital the first public hospital in NSW to implement da Vinci technology in 2012.
Robotic devices have been used in major specialities including urology, ear, nose and throat and gynaecology. While it's brought endless opportunities for our surgeons to enhance the care they provide and improve patient outcomes, Dr Barto says it's also allowed teams to teach the next generation of aspiring surgeons.
"Learning robotic-assisted surgery can only be done on the job. Hands-on education and training is integral to us continuing the use of modern tools in the surgical field."
