A team of surgeons at The Medical Center at Bowling Green have become the first in the southcentral Kentucky area to use a new surgical robot, the da Vinci 5 system.

The da Vinci 5 system succeeds the da Vinci Xi, which has been used at Med Center Health and health systems worldwide since its debut in 2014, and has been used to perform over 6,000 procedures at The Medical Center at Bowling Green. Over 7 million procedures to date worldwide have been performed by the da Vinci Xi, according to its manufacturer, Intuitive.

Now located at a limited number of hospitals throughout the country, the da Vinci 5 at The Medical Center is only one of three in the state. Med Center Health is also the only hospital in the state with a teaching console used for teaching residents and for collaboration with other surgeons.

Dr. Amber Chambers, a general surgeon with Med Center Health in partnership with Graves Gilbert Clinic, performed the first procedure in December using the da Vinci 5 system.

“DV5 offers 10,000 times the computing power of the previous robotic system, da Vinci Xi,” she said. “Ten years in the making, DV5 provides the best surgical visualization with 3D vision capabilities, Artificial Intelligence that provides surgeons with procedural feedback and (other) feedback that is an enhancement of the surgical senses which allows improvement in tissue manipulation.”

The da Vinci 5 will be used in a variety of surgeries in the general surgery, urology, thoracic and gynecologic specialties.

Chambers said that in general surgery, the robotic platform can be used for a variety of procedures, including hernia repair, gallbladder removal, colon resections, colostomy closures, emergency surgeries such as appendectomies and ulcer repairs.

Robotics can be used in urologic surgery for kidney removal, prostate removal, bladder surgery, ureter reconstruction and adrenal surgeries.

Hysterectomies, ovarian surgery and other complex pelvic surgeries are some of the gynecologic surgeries that can be performed by da Vinci 5.

“Lung cancers can also now be detected earlier with the use of Intuitive’s Ion system, also available at The Medical Center,” Chambers said. “This technology allows tumors to be found earlier and thus treated surgically with better survival.”

“Both the Xi and DV5 allows surgeons to do more complex surgeries with smaller incisions,” Chambers said. “The robotic approach often results in less patient discomfort, (which can decrease post operative narcotic use).”

Its use can also result in shorter hospital stays and can convert a patient from an inpatient surgery to an outpatient surgery.

“In addition, these smaller incisions have less risk for wound complications such as hernias and infections,” Chambers said.

The current DV5 also has technology in place that includes advanced imaging for tumor identification.

In addition, Chambers said the system will continue to provide surgeon feedback that will allow surgeons to improve outcomes with less tissue trauma.