Cardiothoracic Surgery
Cardiothoracic Robotic Surgery
CORONARY BYPASS PROCEDURE
Along with conventional open-heart bypass surgery, UC Davis Medical Center is one of only a handful of hospitals in the nation that can offer a robotic-assisted bypass in conjunction with an angioplasty.
Robotic-Assisted Procedures
Meet the Surgeons
Related Information
Appointments and Referrals
For referring physicians
Contact our Physician Referral Center to initiate a referral on behalf of your patient or to request a physician-to-physician phone consultation.
(800) 4-UCDAVIS (800-482-3284),
choose option 2
For patients
Contact our Consumer Resource Center
(800) 2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284)
Returning patient appointments
To schedule an appointment, please call
(916) 734-2680
Robotic Surgery
at UC Davis
An innovative, minimally invasive surgical approach
W. Douglas Boyd, M.D., a professor of surgery in the cardiothoracic division, specializes in minimally invasive cardiac and robotic-assisted heart surgery. He completed the world's first closed-chest, beating-heart coronary artery bypass surgery using a robotic system in 1999. Read more about robotic-assisted cardiothoracic surgery in our FAQs.
UC Davis Medical Center now offers robotic-assisted procedures to treat cardiovascular disease. This state-of-the-art program includes an experienced and highly trained team of surgeons, nurses and support staff who specialize in the use of a computer-controlled surgical system that can provide all the benefits of conventional open-heart surgery with the recovery advantages of a minimally invasive technique. The team also works closely with colleagues in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine to provide the most appropriate and best combination of treatments for each patient.
Robotic-assisted surgery is a leading-edge procedure. It is minimally invasive — meaning large surgical incisions are not required — and the precision of the technology can be an ideal option for delicate and complex surgeries around the heart. Currently, UC Davis is the only medical center in California offering robotic-assisted, multi-vessel "hybrid" coronary bypass/revascularization procedures for patients suffering from coronary artery disease.
Benefits to patients
Robotic-assisted surgery enables surgeons to perform a more precise operation less invasively than conventional “open” heart surgery, which typically requires the chest to be opened at the sternum bone and the use of a heart-lung machine. The robotic-assisted option offers several potential benefits, including:
- Significantly less pain
- Less blood loss
- Less risk of infection
- Less scarring
- Shorter hospital stay
- Quicker recovery time
- Clinical outcomes comparable to conventional “open” heart surgery
As with any surgical procedure, these benefits cannot be guaranteed. Successful outcomes always depend on a variety of factors.
Robotic-assisted cardiothoracic procedures
Coronary artery bypass (coronary revascularization) — This procedure is performed without the need for a heart-lung machine. It is done minimally invasively through small incisions made between the ribs. It avoids the physical trauma of cutting through the breast bone and spreading the ribs to access the heart area, which carries associated risks and complications. UC Davis surgeons are able to repair multiple diseased vessels using the robotic-assisted procedure.
Cardiothoracic surgeons also perform arrythmia, pericardial, and lead placement robotic-assisted procedures.
Robotic-assisted surgery
During the operative procedure the surgeon sits at a controlling console near the patient. An assisting surgeon is at the bedside next to the patient. Through a video camera, the operating surgeon watches the operative field and controls several robotic arms from the console, which replicate the surgeon’s hand movements. Three computers at the console track those movements 1,000 times a second, digitizing the information and enabling unprecedented surgical precision. Computer-assisted robotic surgery allows procedures to be performed that previously were beyond the capabilities of human manual dexterity.
A benefit to the patient from robotic-assisted surgery is a decreased length of recovery time. Instead of months of recovery from the healing of the sternum, recuperation times can be reduced to a matter of weeks. The operation is performed thoracoscopically, meaning it is less invasive because it requires only small, keyhole incisions between the ribs rather than a chest-length opening for surgeons to operate around the heart. Patients can often return to normal activity in two to three weeks instead of six to eight weeks common to standard open surgery.
Learn more about the da Vinci Surgical System.
