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Thursday 29 August 2024

Robotic surgery at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch has helped more than 100 women suffering from a range of gynaecological conditions.

Surgeons from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust are using a state-of-the-art robot to help perform some surgeries with greater precision, reduced post-operative pain and a lower risk of complications from blood loss.

Over 100 patients with conditions such as endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, fibroids and gynaecological cancers – many of which require a hysterectomy – have now undergone surgery using the robot, allowing surgeons to perform more complex cases than they would previously have been able to offer. Evidence shows that robotic surgery can reduce the pain patients experience after an operation and can lower the chance of complications due to blood loss.

Robotic surgery is performed by specially trained surgeons. The robot provides the surgeons with a 3D and highly-magnified view of the areas they are operating on, with the instruments offering a greater range of movement than in conventional keyhole surgery, allowing for even greater surgical precision.

The Da Vinci Xi robot was first used at the Redditch hospital in 2022 for prostate cancer surgery, but after more surgeons have been trained in robotic-assisted surgery it can now be offered to patients for various gynaecological, urological, and colorectal conditions. The expansion of robotic surgery in gynaecology is particularly helpful for surgery to remove endometriosis and also allows patients with obesity to receive surgery who were previously advised to lose weight and be treated medically.

On average, patients undergoing robotic surgery for hysterectomy or removal of endometriosis at Alexandra Hospital go home the same day as their surgery, and there have so far been no patients who have needed to be converted to open surgery.

Gretchen Lach was one of the first patients to undergo robotic surgery to remove endometriosis at the Alexandra Hospital. She said: “The idea of robotic surgery sounded like a sci-fi movie. Having never had surgery before I was quite nervous about it in the beginning, but after talking with Miss Ghosh and her team I felt much more confident and comfortable with the surgery.

“After my surgery my quality of life is improving daily. Before surgery I had debilitating pain every day that completely stole my life away from me and my family. Now I am able to do most of the things I need and want to do. It’s kind of odd realising how much I haven’t been able to do for so long, that I now can do easily, like walking standing up straight or being able to go out for a meal with friends and family.”

Consultant Gynaecologist and Endometriosis Specialist, Miss Donna Ghosh said: “We have now performed over 100 gynaecological robotic surgery cases which is a huge achievement to the benefit of our patients, especially those with more severe endometriosis that involves other structures such as the bladder and bowel. We anticipate further expanding our offering towards joint surgery across different clinical specialities in future.”

Consultant Gynaecologist and Gynaecology Cancer Specialist, Miss Rina Panchal said: “The complexity of cases we are undertaking within the speciality is increasing. We can now operate locally on patients with malignant or pre-malignant endometrial conditions with a high BMI that previously were either treated medically and advised to lose weight or referred to other hospitals further afield.”

Gretchen added: “Miss Ghosh and her team were phenomenal, they were all very kind and supportive. Every question I asked was met with honesty, respect and clear answers. I could not have been in better hands, I am extremely grateful to them all.”