The da Vinci robot used for surgical operations has been installed in clinics around the world. At first, doctors were delighted with the four-armed "colleague", but recently it became known about disturbing incidents.
Intuitive Surgical has made it as easy as possible for surgeons to create a robot with four mechanical arms and a tiny telescope that transmits an image of the organ being operated on.
Doctors are not near the patient, but control da Vinci through a special console, focusing on the 3D image displayed on the screen.
The device is equipped with cutting tools that make miniature cuts. This significantly reduces blood loss, bleeding risk, and overall patient recovery time.
Quite naturally, hours-long operations have become less tiring for surgeons. In addition, the robot has one important advantage - the mechanical arm will never flinch.
Photo: oko-planet.su
Da Vinci's convenient assistant began to be used for such operations as gastric bypass surgery, removal of the prostate and gallbladder, mitral valve restoration, organ transplantation and many others.
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However, reports of problems with the medical device made doctors wary. The reports filed by surgeons include the following incidents:
- the death of a woman as a result of an accidental cut by a robot of blood vessels;
- Fatal spleen surgery;
- perforation of the colon during prostate surgery;
- capture of internal tissues by a robotic arm during rectal surgery;
“We had to completely shut down the system to release the grip on the machine,” said a doctor who fought da Vinci. The report indicates that the patient was not injured.
- a blow to the patient's face with one of the four mechanical limbs that occurred during a hysterectomy. It is not known how the surgery would have ended if the surgeon had not begun to directly perform his duties.
“Research results show that the risks associated with using a robot are significantly underestimated. The rapid introduction of the da Vinci apparatus was made without evaluating its capabilities. We are aware of cases of catastrophic complications after mechanical hand surgeries,”said Martin Makary, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins University.
Angela Wonson, spokeswoman for Intuitive Surgical, responded to the attack: "The da Vinci system has an excellent safety record and the overall number of unwanted events remains low."