BALTIMORE, Md. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of a woman’s uterus, and the procedure dates back centuries. But the way doctors perform it has changed dramatically over the years. Now with the assistance of robots, surgeons are reporting even higher success rates.
Ajanta Brasauskas has been hiking for the last ten years.
“This is my favorite thing to do,” she said.
But then, life-altering symptoms got in the way.
“I started having heavy bleeding,” Brasauskas explained.
And it was unpredictable.
“If I go for my hikes, I had to bring pads in my bag,” Brasauskas told Ivanhoe.
Dwight D. Im, MD, medical director for The Institute for Gynecologic Care at Mercy Medical Center said it was fibroids, and she needed a hysterectomy.
“Hysterectomy simply means taking out their uterus,” he explained.
Brasauskas’ surgeon is renowned for providing robot-assisted hysterectomies, a big change from early versions of the procedure.
“Either a bikini cut or sometimes straight up and down,” said Dr. Im.
He says it’s an improvement on minimally invasive approaches that require just tiny cuts.
“You really couldn’t see. It was black and white sometimes and you’d be operating looking at the monitor,” Dr. Im told Ivanhoe.
This robot-assisted technique gives surgeons a 3D view inside the stomach, allowing unmatched precision in 4K.
“I can do nerve-sparing hysterectomies where the patients not only recover more quickly but their bladder function is restored back to normal rather quickly, bowel function is. So it’s better care,” said Dr. Im.
And as far as the whole robot thing:
“It’s still dependent on the operator, which is a surgeon,” explained Dr. Im.
Helping some patients get back to work in days instead of weeks. And in Brasauskas’ case, back on the trails in three days.
“I came here to this park. And I walked slowly. So I walked like one mile this way and another mile back. Felt great. And here I am enjoying my life again,” she told Ivanhoe.
In addition to fibroids, a doctor might recommend hysterectomies for conditions like cancer or endometriosis.
Contributors to this news report include: Shernay Williams, Producer; Stephen Jones, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Source:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-3552(97)80047-8
* For More Information, Contact: Dwight D. Im
Medical Director for The Institute for Gynecologic Care at Mercy Medical Center
(410) 332-9205
and
Dan Collins
Senior Director of Media Relations at Mercy Medical Center
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