Robotic surgery is on the rise

HOUSTON. A surgeon may have been in charge, but in an operating room in Houston, a four-armed robot operated on a patient’s heart.

The man at the table is Joseph Christofferson. Chest tightness sent the father of two to the emergency room, where he learned he had a condition called myocardial bridging.

“Each test was a little more serious. When they told me that it could be corrected surgically, I didn’t really believe it at first,” he said.

He opted for a robotic procedure, which we are told is becoming more common.

“It’s a lot less invasive,” said Dr. Danny Ramsay of UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann. “Smaller incisions. We don’t spread ribs or bones.”

Ramsay is a cardiac surgeon who specializes in robotics. He said that while using this system helps him see better, it has drawbacks.

Minimally invasive surgery like Christofferson’s can be done in a traditional way, while robotic surgery requires surgeons to be trained to use the technology properly.

“The first few cases with the surgeon are longer. The risk of complications is slightly higher. But after the first few cases, everything returns to normal,” Ramsay said. “Over time, over 50 cases, we find far fewer complications overall.”

Christopherson returned home with his family less than a week after the operation.

“Development, progress, being able to be a part of it… and the idea that this is a robot. It’s pretty cool,” he said.

Some physicians believe that robotics will eventually become part of the training of the next generation of cardiac surgeons.

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