Eisenhower and da Vinci Celebrate 100

Enrique Jacome, MD, (RIGHT) Board Certified Gynecologist, adjusting the instruments for his 100th da Vinci hysterectomy. Lorena Zamora, Certified Surgical Technician assists.

On January 20, 2010, Enrique Jacome,MD, Board Certified Gynecologist at Eisenhower Medical Center and his surgical team performed their 100th da Vinci hysterectomy, marking an impressive medical milestone. In October 2008, less than two years ago, Dr. Jacome became the first physician in Riverside County to perform robotic-assisted surgery utilizing the da Vinci^® S HD™ Surgical System, the newest generation of robotic surgical technology. The same surgical team who assisted Dr. Jacome in his 100th procedure also assisted in the very first da Vinci hysterectomy at Eisenhower.

Robotic surgery using the da Vinci Surgical System provides a state-of-the-art alternative to the traditional surgical approach. Eisenhower Medical Center is currently one of only a handful of facilities across the country offering this minimally invasive, cutting edge technology.

“Robotics may allow for the completion of complex gynecological procedures not previously performed minimally invasively via the abdominal wall,” explains Dr. Jacome.“This technology is not a replacement for what surgeons already do well, but is a powerful enabling evolutionary tool.Women will now have better,most advanced, less invasive options.”

“The system seamlessly translates the surgeon’s hand, wrist and finger movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient. ”

Using the da Vinci Surgical System, the surgeon operates while seated comfortably at a console viewing a three-dimensional image of the surgical field. The surgeon’s fingers grasp the master controls below the display, with the hands and wrists naturally positioned relative to his or her eyes. The system seamlessly translates the surgeon’s hand, wrist and finger movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient.

With the da Vinci Surgical System, there are numerous benefits for patients, including reduced trauma to the body, reduced blood loss and need for transfusions, less post-operative pain and discomfort, less risk of infection, shorter hospital stay, faster recovery and return to normal daily activities, and less scarring and improved cosmetic outcome.

Annually, surgeons perform 600,000 hysterectomies in the United States.Despite the general preference for minimally invasive procedures, the majority of these surgeries are still performed using large incisions. Sixty-five percent of those performed are total abdominal hysterectomies, 10 percent are laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomies and 25 percent are vaginal hysterectomies