CoxHealth

Health Sense - Summer 2013

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The surgical team positions the robot during a hysterectomy. Dr. Thomas Shultz, OB/GYN, explains that a hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus. He says 90 percent of the reasons a woman might need a hysterectomy are benign or non-cancerous: fibroid tumors, heavy periods and bleeding, cramping, pelvic pain or endometriosis. In the past, women have avoided hysterectomies, if at all possible, because of the difficult recovery, time away from work and the large incision from open abdominal surgery. Now, CoxHealth is performing fewer open abdominal hysterectomies. "In 2007, 72 percent of hysterectomies at CoxHealth were abdominal. Five years later this decreased to 30 percent," says Dr. Shultz. Dr. Thomas Shultz One of the reasons is because CoxHealth offers minimally invasive options for this surgery – laparoscopic and robotic. With robotic surgery, a physician is able to work carefully around delicate organs, such as the bladder, through small incisions. The patient may go home the same day as the surgery and if they have a sedentary job they are back to work within two weeks. For more information, listen to Dr. Shultz discuss hysterectomy and robotic surgery at coxhealth.com, search "robotic surgery." What is robotic surgery? A surgeon trained in robotics sits at a console, views a high definition 3D image of the surgery site and uses robotic arms to perform the procedure. The surgeon's hand, wrist and finger movements are translated into precise real-time movements of the surgical instruments. 18

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