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8/20/2015 |
Member News |
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St. Mary’s of Michigan Performs First Robotic Pancreatectomy |
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Dr. Maher Ghanem, board certified general surgeon with CMU Health Division of Surgery, recently performed a robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy at St. Mary’s of Michigan. Dr. Ghanem is the first surgeon north of Detroit to perform this state-of-the-art surgery using the da Vinci robotic surgical system.
Only a few hospitals in Michigan have performed a robot-assisted distal pancreatectomy - Dr. Ghanem is one of only 10 surgeons throughout the state.
A distal pancreatectomy, often used to treat pancreatic tumors and cysts, is a complex procedure in which the body and tail of the pancreas are removed, usually along with the entire spleen.
A traditional laparoscopic approach in pancreatic surgery is complex due to the difficult-to-access location of the pancreas and the organ's close proximity to major blood vessels.
The robot-assisted approach alleviates some of the complexity by giving the surgeon a magnified 3-D view of the surgical site and by improving dexterity and ability to manipulate instruments safely within the body. With the robotic arms, a surgeon can perform delicate operations through tiny incisions. Robotic surgery offers many advantages including smaller incisions, less post-operative pain, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, quicker recovery and a faster return to normal daily activities.
Dr. Ghanem specializes in advanced laparoscopic and robotic general, endocrine, oncologic, stomach cancer and esophageal cancer surgery. He completed a fellowship in endocrine and oncologic surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine under worldwide distinguished surgeons John L. Cameron and Martha Zeiger.
The da Vinci robotic surgical system can be used for a range of surgeries. The St. Mary’s of Michigan robotic surgery team currently uses the da Vinci for colorectal, general, gynecological, thoracic and urological procedures.
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