Surgeons from the Center for Robotic Surgery at Children's Hospital Boston are pioneers in pediatric robotic surgery. More robotic surgery is performed at Children's, and it is used in a wider array of procedures, than at any other pediatric hospital in the world. Physicians work with engineers and medical device manufacturers to develop and refine the robotic equipment specifically for use in children, and they train surgeons from around the world on its use.
Cardiovascular Surgery
Cardiovascular surgeons at Children's use the robot to repair a congenital heart defect known as patent ductus arteriosus. The condition occurs when an artery designed to route blood around the lungs of the developing fetus doesn't close after birth, as it does normally. If untreated, the heart is burdened by recycling oxygenated blood that should be on its way to the rest of the body. Traditional treatment for these conditions is major cardiac surgery requiring a large incision (several inches, depending on the age and size of the child), and a lengthy recovery. Robotic technology allows the surgeon to correct the deformity with tiny instruments placed through the chest, without the need to open the patient's ribs to reach the heart. The patient avoids a large incision and resulting scar, suffers less pain, and recovers much faster. This "closed-chest" cardiac surgery promises to revolutionize the field of cardiovascular surgery.
The department is also studying the use of robotically-assisted surgery and 3-D ultrasound to operate on the beating heart.
Today, surgeons at Children's use state-of-the-art robotic surgery equipment to divide vascular rings. This technology allows the procedure to be performed using minimally-invasive surgery techniques, which reduce pain, scarring, and recovery time.
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