Robotic surgical system a safe new option
MQ Health’s Professor Wilson used the da Vinci Xi surgical system to perform minimally-invasive coronary bypass surgery on Ms Joanna Dean.
Less invasive surgery means faster recovery
MQ Health now performs off-pump coronary artery bypass grafts (OPCABG) using the da Vinci Xi Surgical System, the most advanced available surgical robot.
Leading Sydney heart surgeon, Professor Michael Wilson, who has been one of the pioneers of an off-pump approach to bypass surgery, first performed the procedure at Macquarie University Hospital using the Xi in 2018. Professor Wilson is one of only a few surgeons worldwide who are able to perform CABG in all three modalities: traditionally, off pump and robotically.
“We’ve been doing off-pump CABG increasingly at MUH for years now, with excellent results for patients,” said Professor Wilson.
Forty-four-year-old patient Joanna Dean found out that she had early onset arterial disease after she developed chest pain during her daily cycling commute to work. This meant that she thought she was headed for a full sternotomy or stents, until she met with Professor Wilson and found out about Macquarie University Hospital’s new cardiothoracic robotic program.
“I’d heard of robotically assisted surgery for the heart, but I didn’t think that it was actually available now,” said Ms Dean, who returned home one week after surgery, and is fully mobile less than two weeks later.
Robotic surgery is far less invasive than traditional surgery, with patients experiencing a much faster recovery time. A four to six centimetre cut under the breast crease is all that is required to access the heart. Patients have been back to work as early as two weeks.
A second patient who was considered for the same procedure as Ms Deane, eventually underwent conventional surgery.
“Robotically assisted bypass surgery is a safe procedure when patients are properly screened and referred,” said Professor Wilson.
“And it’s important to remember that conventional surgery is always there as a back-up. Our priority is always patient safety, and in the case of our second patient, we decided to proceed traditionally. He had conventional bypass surgery and is recovering well.”