Conditions & Services Overview
Surgery

Robotic Surgery

CoxHealth was the first health system in the Ozarks to offer minimally invasive robotic surgery. This technology allows our surgeons to perform complex, delicate procedures with smaller incisions and less blood loss than traditional surgery and other minimally invasive methods.

Robotic surgery typically results in shorter hospital stays, and may offer less pain and shorter overall recovery times. Robotic surgery doesn’t place a robot at the controls. Instead, your surgeon controls every aspect of the surgery with the assistance of a console and robotic arms. A monitor provides the surgeon with a 3-D image of the surgical area. The surgeon's fingers grasp the master controls below the display with hands and wrists naturally positioned relative to his or her eyes. The wrist-like features of the operating arms precisely replicate the skilled movements of your surgeon, allowing for precise movements within a small operating space.

Robotic Surgeries

Cystectomy is surgery to remove the urinary bladder. It may be done in certain cases of bladder cancer. Your doctor can discuss the risks and benefits of the surgery with you. If your bladder is removed, your surgeon will create a new way for urine to leave your body. There are a few different options to accomplish this. Your doctor will work with you to decide on the best option for you.

If your doctor recommends surgery for bladder cancer, you may be a candidate for robotic surgery.

If your gallbladder is dysfunctional or you have gall stones causing pain, nausea and vomiting – or that keep you from eating certain foods – your doctor may recommend gallbladder removal.

CoxHealth was the first hospital in southwest Missouri to perform a gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy) using single-site robotic surgery. This surgery requires a small one-inch incision in your belly button, which leaves virtually no scar. Robotic gallbladder removal offers several benefits, which can include minimal pain, low blood loss, quick recovery and a short hospital stay.

A hysterectomy is surgery to remove a woman's uterus. Common conditions that lead to hysterectomies are non-cancerous fibroid tumors, heavy periods and bleeding, cramping, pelvic pain, and endometriosis. There are different types of hysterectomies. You may have your uterus removed while your cervix remains, or you may have both your uterus and cervix removed. A radical hysterectomy is a more extensive surgery for gynecologic cancer. It includes removing the uterus and cervix and may also remove part of the vagina, fallopian tubes ovaries and lymph nodes.

Traditionally, hysterectomies have been performed in “open” procedures through a 6-12 inch incision, or by removing the uterus through the vagina, with no external incisions. This approach is most often used if you have a benign condition, if your uterus is a normal size and if your condition is limited to your uterus.

Robotic surgery is the latest approach to a hysterectomy. A robotic hysterectomy typically results in less pain, less blood loss and scarring, a shorter hospital stay and a faster return to normal activities. Robotic surgery is also used to dissect and remove lymph nodes during cancer operations.

If you require a radical hysterectomy, robotic surgery allows your surgeon to treat early-stage endometrial cancer in a less invasive way. It also enables the surgeon to perform precise and comprehensive dissections. Other benefits include more precise cancer staging and better access to remove any lymph nodes.

Talk to your physician to determine if you might be a candidate for robotic surgery.

The ureters are the two tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder. If urine can’t flow through a ureter, it builds up in the kidney. This is called ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction. This may cause symptoms such as pain, fever, and vomiting. It can also cause serious health problems such as infection or kidney damage. People with UPJ obstruction are often born with it, but it may not show up until later in life. Urine flow through the ureter can be blocked by a narrowing of the ureter walls (stricture). A blood vessel that presses on the ureter can also cause it. Pyeloplasty is surgery to unblock the ureter and allow urine to flow again.

Cancer can also affect the kidneys by forming in the small tubes inside your kidney, or in the center of your kidney where urine collects. Kidney cancer is relatively resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. As a result, surgery is the most common treatment for kidney cancer. The goal is to take out the tumor or tumors. Sometimes the entire kidney is removed. You may get radiation or other treatment before or after surgery.

Kidney surgery can be performed using an open approach, laparoscopy or robotic surgery.

If you’ve received an early diagnosis of prostate cancer, you likely have a range of treatment options. These may include conservative management, radiation therapy, cryosurgery and prostatectomy, which is the surgical removal of your prostate. Your treatment options will depend on a number of factors, including the stage of the disease, your age and health, and your personal preference.

Radical prostatectomy is surgery to remove the entire prostate. It may be done if tests show that the cancer is confined to the prostate. Your surgeon will give you detailed instructions on getting ready for surgery. After surgery, you’ll be told how to care for yourself at home as you recover. Be sure to ask any questions you have about the procedure and recovery.

For many patients, robotic surgery is an excellent treatment option. Talk to your doctor to learn more.

If your doctor recommends surgery to treat uterine fibroids, you may be a candidate for a robotic myomectomy.

Robotic surgery allows surgeons to perform this delicate operation with precision and control using only a few small incisions. It's also a uterine-preserving alternative to an open abdominal hysterectomy.

Prolapse (or falling) of any pelvic floor organ occurs when the connective tissues or muscles are weak and unable to hold your pelvis in its natural position.

If your physician recommends surgery to correct prolapse, ask if you are a candidate for robotic surgery. Robotic procedures typically offer smaller incisions, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries.

CoxHealth surgeons offer minimally invasive robotic surgery as an option to treat rectal cancer. Rectal cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form in the tissues of the rectum, a part of your digestive system. Surgery is the most common treatment for all stages of rectal cancer.

If you’ve been diagnosed with rectal cancer, ask you physician if you’re a candidate for robotic surgery. Robotic procedures use small incisions and typically offer less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries.

CoxHealth surgeons offer minimally invasive robotic surgery as an option to repair rectal prolapse. Rectal prolapse occurs when loose tissue near the end of your large intestine (rectum) slides downward. The tissue may partially or completely protrude from your anus.

Rectal prolapse is most common in young children and older female adults. Although many conditions increase the risk for rectal prolapse, it’s often difficult to find the exact cause. Most cases of rectal prolapse can be corrected with robotic surgery. Ask your physician if this procedure may be the right treatment for you.

At CoxHealth, the robotic system is used to perform uterus removal (hysterectomy), radical hysterectomies, vaginal vault suspension (sacrocolpopexy), uterine fibroid removal (myomectomy), radical prostate surgery including prostatectomies, bladdar removal (cystectomy), gall bladder removal (cholecystectomy), kidney repair and removal (nephrectomy), rectal prolapse repair and rectal cancer removal.

Clinical follow-up with robotic procedures performed at CoxHealth has shown that the use of small incisions eliminates scars measuring up to 10 inches or more that come with traditional surgery, as well as less blood loss and shorter hospital stays. Data from larger national studies have shown that robotic surgery may also offer less pain and shorter recovery times. As with all surgical procedures, there are some risks. Talk to your doctor to see if robotic surgery is right for you.

In many cases, a robotic surgery procedure is less expensive since the required hospital stay is typically much shorter. This quicker recovery time also means less time away from work. Insurance may provide coverage for robotic surgery just like any other covered service. Check with your insurance company to confirm coverage.

Yes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared our robotic system for a wide range of procedures.

On the contrary, the robotic system enables surgeons to be more precise, advancing their technique and enhancing their capability in performing complex minimally invasive surgery. The system replicates the surgeon's movements in real time. It cannot be programmed, nor can it make decisions on its own to move in any way or perform any type of surgical maneuver without the surgeon's input.

The system relays some force feedback sensations from the operative field back to the surgeon throughout the procedure. This force feedback provides a substitute for tactile sensation and is augmented by the enhanced vision provided by the high-resolution 3-D view.

Although seated at a console a few feet away from the patient, the surgeon views an actual image of the surgical field while operating in real-time, through tiny incisions, using miniaturized, wristed instruments. At no time does the surgeon see a virtual image or program the system to perform any maneuver on its own outside of the surgeon's direct, real-time control.

SURGERY

See our pre-op patient guide.

This guide provides you with the information you need about preparing for surgery, what to expect while you're at CoxHealth, and how to continue your wellness path once you're home.

See CoxHealth's pre-op guide.

Robotic Surgery

Robotic Surgery

Bladder Removal (Cystectomy)

Gallbladder Removal

Hysterectomy

Kidney Removal & Repair

Prostate Removal

Uterine Fibroid Removal

Vaginal Vault Prolapse Repair

Rectal Cancer Removal

Rectal Prolapse Repair

What procedures have been performed using the robotic system?

What are the benefits of robotic surgery compared with traditional methods of surgery?

Is robotic surgery more expensive than traditional surgery?

Has robotic surgery been cleared by the FDA?

Will robotic surgery make the surgeon unnecessary?

While using the robotic system, can the surgeon feel anything inside the patient?

Is a surgeon using the robotic system operating in "virtual reality?"

See our pre-op patient guide.