Robotic-Assisted Surgery at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital

Setting New Surgical Standards to Benefit the Community

The addition of the Da Vinci® Xi Surgical System to our surgical suites at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital sets a new standard of care for general surgery, bariatric (weight loss) surgery, gynecologic surgery and urologic surgery.


The Da Vinci Surgical System provides an alternative to traditional open surgery and conventional minimally invasive surgery. During a robotic procedure, the surgeon is at the controls of a state-of-the-art robotic platform. The robotic surgery system enables surgeons to perform even the most complex and delicate procedures with unmatched precision through very small incisions.

Patient Benefits of Robot-Assisted Surgery

• Surgery is performed through small abdominal incisions, resulting in minimal blood loss
• The smaller incisions, smaller instruments and extreme precision enable the surgeon to reach the abnormal area directly with minimal manipulation of and less trauma to internal organs and tissue.
• Less blood loss, less risk of infection. The smaller incisions mean less blood loss and less risk of infection or need for transfusion.
• Less pain, which decreases reliance on narcotic painkillers to control discomfort
• Shorter hospital stay, shorter recovery time and smaller scars because the surgeon used smaller incisions rather than a large one

Benefits of Robotic Procedures Versus Laparoscopic or Traditional Procedures

• Superior dexterity. Robotic instruments give your surgeon greater agility, since they have more flexibility than a human hand.
• Enhanced visualization. The screen at the console shows a magnified image of the operating site, giving your surgeon a clearer 3-D picture.
• Better access. Your surgeon has incomparable access, even to hard-to-reach places, since the robot can access areas that traditional laparoscopic instruments can’t.

Robotic surgical procedures offer many benefits compared to traditional or laparoscopic procedures – which is also minimally invasive. However, it may not be the right choice for every patient or procedure. We always have your best outcome in mind and will choose the surgical approach that best suits your needs.

How Robotic-Assisted Surgery Works

The Da Vinci Xi Surgical System is one of the newest robotic machines. It has new visual enhancements such as infrared imaging, and can access any area from any position with even greater range of motion than before. The sophisticated equipment used for robotic surgery is designed to make your surgery as precise as possible.

 The da Vinci Xi Surgical System equipment includes:

• Patient cart with four interactive robotic arms: These arms are what your surgeon uses to control the procedure. The robotic arms hold the surgical instruments and a high-definition camera. Your surgeon makes small incisions and inserts the instruments and camera into the operating site. Your surgeon operates the instruments by using his or her hands and fingers. EndoWrist instruments work like a human arm, with elbow- and wrist-like movements, but have a greater range of motion than the human wrist.
• Surgeon’s console: This is where your surgeon sits and directs the procedure. The console is in the same room as the operating table but located a few feet away; it contains a screen, which shows the high-resolution, 3-D images of the operating site. Although your surgeon isn’t standing over you, he or she can see the operating site even better at the console, due to the high-quality images.
• Insight visual system - produces clear, three-dimensional images and magnifies the surgical area ten times providing a high definition live feed of the procedure, visible to everyone in the OR. It integrates communications across the da Vinci system components, imaging processing and information systems.

For more information or a referral to a Morton Plant North Bay Hospital robotic surgeon, call 1-800-BayCare (1-800-229-2273).

Morton Plant North Bay Hospital
6600 Madison St.
New Port Richey, FL 34652

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