A prostate cancer diagnosis affects more than just men. It impacts their loved ones, too. To survive cancer together, you need access to the latest surgical advancements from a health system you can trust. To offer our patients the best in cancer technology, the expert surgeons at Cottage choose the da Vinci^® Robotic Surgical System.

The da Vinci^® Surgical System provides the surgeon with the intuitive control, range of motion, fine tissue manipulation capability and 3-D visualization characteristic of open surgery, while simultaneously allowing the surgeon to work through tiny incisions typical of minimally invasive surgery.

The less invasive da Vinci^® system offers numerous potential benefits over open prostatectomy surgery including:

• Shorter hospital stays
• Less pain
• Less risk of infection
• Less blood loss and transfusions
• Less scarring
• Faster recovery
• Quicker return to intimacy and normal activities

As a not-for-profit health system, Cottage brings personalized care to cancer treatment, combining state-of-the-art technology with clinical excellence.

To learn more about da Vinci^® Robotic Surgical System procedures at Cottage, please call us at 805-879-8980.

da Vinci^® Robotic Surgical System:
Reaching New Levels of Surgical Precision

At Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the state-of-the-art
da Vinci^® Robotic Surgical System is the latest in a growing list of surgical options for patients. At Cottage, a number of surgeons have received special training and are now using the system to assist in urologic, gynecologic, bariatric and cardiothoracic procedures.

Learn more:
	How the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System works
	Cottage surgeons
	What do patients say about da Vinci®?
	What do doctors say about da Vinci®?

How the da Vinci^® Robotic Surgical System works

The computer-enhanced system involves a stand-alone console and a mechanical robot with several arms that hold both the surgical instruments and a miniature video camera for the field of view. The surgeon sits at the console looking into eyepieces that provide a three-dimensional image of the operation area. Maneuvering special hand devices in the console, the surgeon precisely controls every movement of the micro-instruments in the robot’s arms.

The surgical instruments are small enough to fit through keyhole incisions. This allows the surgeon to work in very tight areas — such as between the rib cage — and with minimum disruption to surrounding tissue or organs.

Compared to traditional surgery, studies have shown that most patients treated with this new surgical option experience:

• Less blood loss
• Less discomfort upon waking from surgery
• Reduction in pain medication
• Faster recovery time

Cottage surgeons

A number of SBCH surgeons have received special training with the da Vinci^® Robotic Surgical System, and the list is expected to grow.

Cardiothoracic Surgery: Phillip N. West
General Surgery/Bariatric Surgery: David Thoman
Gynecology: Duncan Turner
Urology: Julie Chacko, Daniel J. Curhan, Alex Koper, David J. Laub and Alex J. Weinstein

What do patients say about da Vinci^®?

John Boogaard’s experience with the pain and long recovery from a cardiac bypass procedure years ago made him reluctant to undergo surgery to correct a problem with his esophagus. His physician referred him to Dr. Phillip West, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, who was able to employ the da Vinci^® System to perform an esophageal myotomy (surgical procedure in which the muscle is cut). The recovery was definitely a different experience than his earlier surgery. Mr. Boogaard returned home four days after the myotomy and with little need for pain pills. He says he has had no side effects from the surgery, and his energy level quickly returned to normal.

What do doctors say about da Vinci^®?

Urologists Dr. Alex Koper and Dr. David Laub agree that minimally invasive surgery is the wave of the future. According to Dr. Koper, it allows surgeons to make much smaller incisions to perform the necessary procedure while maintaining the same high quality of surgical care while helping patients to feel more comfortable during recovery.

With robotics, patients recover much more quickly, according to Dr. Laub. “Patients are back to full activity about one month sooner than they are with open surgery,” says Laub.