A breakthrough in cardiac bypass surgery is allowing surgeons to perform life-saving operations with the help of robots.

 

According to Heart Foundation Australia, heart disease is the single leading cause of death in Australia and was responsible for the death of one Australian every 30 minutes.

 

“Bypass surgery took an unbelievable toll on my body; they are cutting you wide open, deflating your lungs and stopping your heart,” said Judy Solomon who received an emergency cardiac bypass surgery earlier this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After experiencing an unfamiliar sensation in her neck, Judy was referred to a cardiologist who found that her carotid arteries were 90 per cent blocked.

 

“If I had the option I would of chosen robotic surgery because it’s far less invasive.”

 

Judy’s surgeon, Dr Levi Bassin from the Mater

Hospital, is one of the few cardiac surgeons in

Australia who is successfully offering robotic bypass

surgery to patients.

 

Dr Bassin believes robotic surgery is bridging the

divide between cardiology and surgery.

 

“Advantages of robotic surgery include greater

precision because of the arms, there is not as much

human error or shake and it allows us to see inside

the patient’s chest at 10x magnification,” said

Dr Bassin.

 

“It’s functioning on a normal operating field on a

much smaller scale inside the chest.”

 

The aim of coronary bypass is to restore blood

circulation to the heart by redirecting the flow

of blood around the blocked artery.

 

The patient is placed on a cardiopulmonary

bypass machine which substitutes the heart,

pumping blood through the body while the

surgeon replaces the damaged arteries.

 

The Da Vinci System which was developed in

the United States, has been adopted by only a

handful of surgeons around the world, including

Dr Bassin who believes the technology ‘is the

way of the future.

 

“There are not a lot of surgeons offering this

quite new and quite technically challenging

technology,” said Dr Bassin.

 

“There definitely needs to be some more work

and education to be done letting people know

these procedures are available.”

 

Although impressed by the outcome of her

surgery, Judy would not turn down the

opportunity to use robotics surgery in the future.

 

“If I need it again say in 20 years and they said

to me ‘Judy you can do it robotically this time

rather than opening your whole breast bone

up’ I would do it for sure.”