www.computermotionasia.com/english/news/05012003.htm -
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Published on: 5/1/2003
Last Visited: 6/2/2004
Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center announced today that Thom E. Lobe, M.D. successfully completed a surgery on a 41-day-old baby, weighing just over six pounds (2.8kg).During the operation, Dr. Lobe used a robotic system called ZEUS(R) to perform delicate surgical repairs on the infant's birth defects.Dr. Lobe, Le Bonheur pediatric surgeon, and Chairman of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine Section of Pediatric Surgery is among the first surgeons in the U.S. to do pediatric laparoscopy in the world.The patient is the smallest child ever to be operated on using the ZEUS Surgical System.
Dr. Lobe's first clinical cases using ZEUS were on Feb. 24.Since then he has already performed 12 pediatric cases including two groundbreaking surgeries using the robotic system, including the first ever pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease using robotics in the U.S. Other cases include gallbladder and spleen surgeries and treatment for a complex appendicitis case.
"Our patients are doing well," said Dr. Lobe."Using the laparoscopic approach spares these infants from the most traumatic aspect of surgery, the necessity of a major incision."
Laparoscopic surgery, or minimally invasive surgery, is an approach that allows surgeons to perform major operations through tiny incisions instead of the large incision required for conventional open surgery.Reducing surgical trauma may result in less pain, faster recovery and shorter hospital stay for patients.
"Using ZEUS may further decrease physical trauma to the patient by giving surgeons more precise control of instruments critical to working on the very small anatomy of pediatric patients," said Dr. Lobe.
On March 3, the Le Bonheur team completed a procedure, which included both the repair of a giant hiatal hernia and the creation of a Nissen fundoplication.Since performing these procedures, the baby now can eat without refluxing gastric acid into the lungs.Dr. Lobe sat at the ZEUS console positioned near the operating table and controlled the three arms of the ZEUS system.The doctor performed the surgery while viewing a magnified video image from inside the infant's body on his console screen.
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Lobe's pioneering clinical work brings the most advanced surgical treatment available to our own patients, and his commitment to medical education contributes to the advancement of pediatric medical care worldwide."
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NOTE TO EDITORS: Please call to schedule in-person or telephone interview with Dr. Lobe.
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