Spokane surgeons experts in robotic heart surgery
Having surgery of any kind can be unnerving. Going to surgery to repair the heart—that’s even more intimidating. After all, don’t you have to have your chest cracked open and your sternum split? Doesn’t it require weeks of recovery and months before getting back to a normal routine?
Not any more … not with expert surgeons and a precise robot.
“A robot? No thanks,” you might say.
Yes, a robot with an armory of tools controlled by the mind of the surgeon.
Surgeons with Northwest Heart and Lung Surgical Associates in Spokane do a significant number of heart procedures with robotic assistance at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Even though the technology has only been used actively for a few years, these physicians are doing more than most other medical centers offering the robotic option, including larger metropolitan areas like Seattle. In three short years, one of these surgeons has even achieved international acclaim.
Leland Siwek, MD, has been a cardiovascular surgeon for 18 years. Three years ago, he found his true calling when Sacred Heart acquired the daVinci surgical robot from Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
“Working with a robot provides us an up-close, detailed view inside the patient’s heart,” says Dr. Siwek. “It’s like having my hands and eyes miniaturized and placed inside the patient.”
He adds, “I believe robotic surgery helps our patients heal better and that’s what we’re most interested in.”
“Dr. Siwek is one of our master trainers,” says Kelly Rupp, account manager at Intuitive. “When he performs a mitral valve repair, surgeons from literally all over the world go to Spokane to watch him,” he adds. It works the other way, too, as Intuitive sends Dr. Siwek to California to instruct surgeons who gather there for training. He also serves as a proctor at many other medical centers, assisting physicians who are doing robotic procedures for the first time.
Kelly continues, “Clearly, Dr. Siwek is a leader—across the nation—among cardiac surgeons using a robotics platform for their work. People are very impressed with what he has done.”
“We definitely think Dr. Siwek is the best of the best.”
Minimally-invasive surgery
So, what exactly does the patient stand to gain when going “under the knife” of a robot? Robotic surgery is called “minimally-invasive surgery” because it involves advanced techniques that require a few very small “keyhole” ports rather than large incisions and leaves the breastbone intact. The result? Patients spend less time in the hospital and return to their normal lives more quickly.
One woman went on an Alaskan cruise just days after her unexpected heart surgery. A physician assistant was back at work full-time within two weeks of his surgery and, shortly after that, was practicing his Tae Kwon Do again. Another patient was snowshoeing a few weeks following his robotic procedure and that spring, returned to his role as a backcountry ranger in Glacier National Park.
Those are real people telling true stories. Stories that, before the dawn of surgical robots, would have been nothing more than science fiction.
Using a robot is science all right, but not science fiction.
“The robot makes it a better operation, providing me with better views and improved dexterity,” explains Dr. Siwek. “We’ve progressed from small open-chest incisions to totally-endoscopic procedures done through small port incisions.
These procedures and Dr. Siwek’s respected reputation are drawing patients to Spokane from the west side of the state. While Seattle docs are offering robotic surgeries for other needs such as prostate and other urological procedures, they are not yet doing high volumes of cardiac surgeries. Dr. Siwek and his partners—Drs. Branden Reynolds, Mandaya Vishwanath and Neil Worrall—are causing westside physicians and patients alike to see Spokane in a different light.
For details about minimally-invasive surgery at Sacred Heart, visit www.shmc.org, email heartcare@shmc.org or call (509) 47-HEART.
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