INTRODUCTION: The clinical integration of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has been delayed due to the lack of technologic development of novel instruments and endoscopes as well as multi-tasking platforms. Robotic NOTES (R-NOTES) has been recently introduced as a technology to overcome the limitations of traditional NOTES. However, case reports of R-NOTES application using external robotic systems are also limited by small robotic workspaces and prolonged instrumentation
INTRODUCTION: Robot-assisted hysterectomy is becoming more common due to its advantages over traditional laparoscopic surgery, such as an ergonomic working posture for the surgeon, a 3D view of the surgical site, and seven degrees-of-freedom in motion. One of the essential and critical steps in robot-assisted surgery is port placement. Well-positioned ports can avoid collisions between instruments, and provide adequate reach and visualization of the surgical site. Several factors must be conside
INTRODUCTION: We have designed a novel multi-tool forearm for an insertable surgical robot with suction, irrigation, and grasping capabilities. Several generations of our miniature surgical robots, which have two dexterous arms and can be inserted into the abdominal cavity through a single incision site, have successfully performed porcine cholecystectomies and colectomies. The arms are very dexterous, but previous robots have been limited to one tool per robot arm, a cautery tool and a grasper.
Background Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has rapidly gained popularity as a primary bariatric procedure in the United States. The most frequent complication of LSG in our series, after perioperative nausea, was hemorrhage. We studied our inception series to identify factors associated with hemorrhage following LSG.
Methods A registry was conducted of patients who underwent LSG at UMass Memorial Health Care between July 2010 and June 2014. Our criteria for hemorrhage included hematocrit
Background: Patients who wish to undergo bariatric surgery are evaluated preoperatively using a multidisciplinary team, including surgeons, dieticians, nurses, and a psychologist. Most bariatric surgeons recommend a thorough preoperative psychological evaluation prior to bariatric surgery, including documented psychological diagnoses, substance use history, history of risk-taking behavior, and coping mechanisms. It has been reported that preoperative rates of psychopathology are high in the bari