NCH receives designation in robotic surgery
Gynecologists across the country who want to specialize in state-of-the-art robotic surgery will soon observe cases at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill. The suburban Chicago hospital, with expert surgeon Michelle Luthringshausen, MD, has been designated a robotic Epicenter by Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci® robot.
Dr. Luthringshausen has performed more than 200 robotic surgeries in the past four years, and will lead the advanced training center at NCH this fall. As the nation's fourth female Epicenter surgeon, she focuses on benign gynecologic surgery, making the new Epicenter the first of its kind in the tri-state area of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.
“We have an outstanding robotic surgical team at Northwest Community, and it's an honor to receive this extraordinary opportunity,” said Dr. Luthringshausen, who also serves as assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
Starting in mid-September, individual doctors and entire surgical teams from around the United States will visit Northwest Community Hospital on a weekly basis to observe Dr. Luthringshausen and the NCH robotic surgical team perform sophisticated, minimally invasive procedures. The da Vinci surgeries under the spotlight include hysterectomies, uterine fibroid removal and complex endometriosis cases.
“Our experienced da Vinci team is highly efficient at what they do, and I'm proud to see that level of care right here at Northwest Community Hospital,” said Meaghan Reshoft, executive director of Surgical Services.
As one of 22 gynecology Epicenters in the country, NCH is a referral center for complex gynecology cases, helping women from near and far achieve better surgical outcomes through robotic procedures.
While NCH has performed robotic surgeries for more than five years, the hospital upgraded to the da Vinci Si™ Surgical System in January – the most advanced robotic technology available. Less pain, greater precision and faster recoveries have always been trademarks of a da Vinci surgery. Patients experience lower complication rates and shorter hospital stays compared to conventional open and laparoscopic surgeries.
The da Vinci robot translates a surgeon's hand motions into real-time movements of tiny surgical instruments inside the patient's body. Using high-definition 3D imaging with the ability to magnify the surgical field 10 times, physicians sit at a console across the operating room and carry out the most delicate surgeries. “The robot's dexterity and control go far beyond the limits of the human hand,” Dr. Luthringshausen said.
To learn more about robotic surgery at Northwest Community Hospital, visit nch.org/roboticsurgery.