by T. Sloane Guy, MD | Aug 4, 2019
The surgeon for sure! Robotic surgical systems currently used simply replicate the movements of the surgeon in the console. They do reduce any hand tremor that a surgeon may have and this is beneficial. You can think of the robotic system as no different from a modern... by T. Sloane Guy, MD | Aug 4, 2019
Yes it is. The patient still is placed on the heart lung machine and the heart is “put to sleep” or “stopped” by a “drug” called cardioplegia. In a typical totally endoscopic robotic mitral valve procedure (or similar procedure), I use a catheter-based system to do... by T. Sloane Guy, MD | Aug 4, 2019
Sometimes no closure is necessary or can just be done with suture. Sometimes we use the patient’s own pericardium (leathery sac surrounding the heart) to close it. We can also use cow pericardium that has been tanned or even dacron... by T. Sloane Guy, MD | Aug 4, 2019
The current robotic system from Intuitive Surgical (Da Vinci) has been approved since 2002. So the short answer is yes, it is standard of care and not experimental or part of a trial. Of course the “standard of care” is broad and includes open surgery, minimally... by T. Sloane Guy, MD | Aug 4, 2019
The short answer is yes, although not longer. The time a patient is on the heart lung machine and the duration the heart is “stopped” or “asleep” is somewhat longer than traditional surgery. However, the recovery period for robotic surgery patients in most series and... 
