Machine helps doctors remove fibroids - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Carmel - Surgeries are commonplace at hospitals across the nation, but one is making history in Indiana. On Friday a physician with The Fertility Center at Clarian North Medical Center was the first in the state to use robotic technology to perform a myomectomy. The robotic arms of the da Vinci machine not only remove fibroids but also preserve fertility.

"If you were lying down and your abdomen was open and I'm looking in, I can only see it at a distance. I can't put my head inside your abdomen," said Dr. Leo Bonaventura, explaining one key disadvantage of conventional or laproscopic surgery.

The da Vinci Surgical System changed that. During a myomectomy, which is the surgical removal of fibroids while preserving fertility, there are all the typical surgical instruments, plus the latest in robotic technology.

"Now it doesn't make sense not to use it because it's easier on the patient. The advantage is the instruments articulate. The difference is now we're sitting at a console doing it rather than with the abdomen open," Dr. Bonaventura said.

With his head pressed against a monitor, the surgeon is able to see a three-dimensional view of the procedure. In this case, Dr. Bonaventura manipulated the controls to impact what is happening on the operating table from several feet away.

For the majority of the two-hour operation, the doctor is sitting at the da Vinci surgical system. It's primarily just in the beginning and end of the surgery that the doctor is actually hands on and touching the patient directly.

"Pain , discomfort, longer recuperation - that was one of the problems when you put a big wound in - it takes four to six weeks to heal," he said.

Not anymore. Now the minimally invasive procedure can be done on an outpatient basis. For this patient, the first in the state of Indiana to have a myomectomy with the da Vinci surgical system, she will go home in less than 24 hours - minus six fibroids and without as much pain.

Read more about the procedure