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Da Vinci Kidney Surgery System at Bay Medical
10/06/08 - 05:06 PM

WMBB News Department

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Treating kidney problems gets faster and less painful with a new surgical technique called Da Vinci at Bay Medical Center.

Bay Medical is the only hospital in north Florida with the Da Vinci surgical system, a robotic surgical tool that uses endoscopic arms with clamps smaller than a fingernail and a tiny endoscopic camera to literally be the surgeon’s hands and eyes.

Urology Surgeon Warren Hitt tells News 13 the visualization is the best thing about Da Vinci. “You can see 10 times better. It’s amazing what you didn’t see for so many years.”

The Da Vinci system is also less invasive than standard open kidney surgery. Instead of an incision several inches long, the patient walks away with just four tiny round scars.

Eleanor Caito, a kidney surgery patient, was unsure what to do when told she needed kidney surgery, until she heard about Da Vinci.
“I was very apprehensive because at my age I decided it just wasn’t worth it,” Caito says. “But then after he explained to me the surgery would be a lot less invasive than the old way, and explained to me what would happen if I didn’t have then it calmed me down and I was ready to have it.”

Caito underwent her nephrectomy procedure with the Da Vinci 3 weeks ago.

“Everything went wonderful. The surgery took less time than expected actually and the recovery has been absolutely miraculous.”

Caito stayed in the hospital for 4 days after her surgery and says that by the time she could go home she was up moving around and able to do everything she would normally do.

So far, the 6 surgeons at Bay Medical trained in robotic surgery have performed 8 nephrectomies and have more scheduled.

Since November 2005, the Da Vinci system has been used for around 300 cases, including urology, gynecology, and even heart procedures.