MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Painful hysterectomies are a thing of the past at Baptist Memorial Hospital. It's all thanks to state of the art technology called da Vinci. It's the only FDA approved way to do a robotic hysterectomy without major surgery. Two main reasons why this robotic surgery has become so popular with women: quick recovery time and no major scarring.
"I had five tiny incisions and that was it, they healed beautifully,” said Stacy Rogers.
She was among the first to try out the da Vinci. She had her surgery in January.
"I didn't have any hemorrhaging, any bleeding, or anything that could be a complication," Rogers told abc24 news. "I went home the same day."
Dr. Laura Bishop works at the Ruch Clinic affiliated with Baptist Women's Hospital. She says typical recovery time for a hysterectomy is about 6 to 8 weeks but using the robot it can take 2 weeks.
"This technology allows people to recover much, much faster, their pain is less, and their bleeding is less,” said Dr. Bishop.
Baptist Hospital purchased the latest da Vinci technology in October. It's so precise it can peel a grape's skin perfectly.
"The old instruments could only open and close but now these new instruments can actually pivot like our wrists do, so we can do much more complicated surgery this way,” said Dr. Bishop.
How does it all work? Doctors say it's like playing a video game.
"My son has guitar hero and other video games and I tell him that's nothing compared to what I get to play with, it is fun,” Dr. Bishop said.
Rogers said all the equipment and robotic hands were scary at first but she would do it all over again.
"Yes, I would totally recommend it. The staff at Baptist was great, Dr. Bishop was great, and her follow up care was great,” she said.
Baptist Hospital is the only hospital in the Mid-South with the third generation da Vinci robot. The robotic surgery is more expensive but Rogers told us her insurance is paying for half of the costs.
