When we undergo any form of invasive surgery, we naturally want our doctor to have a steady pair of hands. In fact, saying that someone has “the hands of a surgeon” means that they can use their hands in skillful, competent manner. This is vital while in the operating room because harmful surgical errors could result should a doctor not be steady and skilled.
But what could outdo a skilled doctor in conducting a surgical procedure? Well, more and more, robots are being used to perform various operations. According to a doctor who is the robotic surgery director at a New Jersey medical center, robots have the ability to benefit doctors as well as patients. She says that procedures conducted with robots can help patients experience less pain, less bleeding and have faster recovery times.
Of course, it is doctors who control the robots during the surgery. They use a device known as a Telemanipulator that enables them to move the robotic arms along with the attached instruments. Robotic surgery may be more common than you think. In fact, it is used in almost 80 percent of the surgeries performed on prostate cancer.
The use of robotics is an amazing medical breakthrough. Likely the future holds even more developments. But the use of robots does not mean that surgical errors have become a thing of the past. Robots can break or malfunction. And a machine is only going to perform as well as the person operating it.
A mistake during surgery can cause a patient to suffer injuries. In extreme cases, these injuries could prove fatal. Surgical errors can have various root causes, including negligence. If you or someone in your family is harmed while having surgery, you may want answers as to what happened.
An Arizona medical malpractice attorney could help you by looking at the records and by determining if a proper standard of care was employed throughout the process.
Source: Fox 5 News, “Surgical robots in the operating room,” Jennifer Lahmers, Dec. 4, 2014