Minimally Invasive and da Vinci® Robotic Surgery – Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery

Rochester Colon and Rectal Surgeons are trained and certified to perform leading-edge robotic-assisted surgery.

As top surgeons in the field of colon and rectal surgery, all of our physicians understand the importance of maintaining the highest standard of patient care. It is the goal of all RCRS physicians to continue to learn new technologies in efforts to perform and provide our patients with the newest minimally invasive surgical techniques in the field. The da Vinci® Surgical System gives us a level of operating precision that before now has been impossible in laparoscopic procedures.

In May 2008 the surgeons at RCRS became the first surgeons in Rochester and Upstate NY to perform robotic surgery using the da Vinci® Surgical System. RCRS is the largest and most experienced group in Rochester to perform robotic assisted surgery. We are the only group in Rochester, NY whose surgeons are fully board certified to offer this advanced surgical technique.

Patients sometimes get confused by the word robot! Yes, the Surgical System is technically a robot, but it is still the surgeon who operates it. The technology is based on a surgical platform where surgeons are able to operate the robot providing unmatched precision. It works similar to laparoscopic surgery where tiny incisions are made, providing a portal for the instruments to be inserted to perform a certain procedure. The surgeon is able to isolate exact areas and perform the procedure with what could be described as “robotic hands or fingers.”

The da Vinci® Robot also allows the surgeon to have a full range of motion with the instruments, unlike laparoscopic surgery.

Benefits include smaller incisions, less pain, shorter hospital stay, and a quicker return to normal bowel functions.

The surgeons at RCRS are the nation’s most experienced group of robotic colorectal specialists per a recent survey out of more than 2000 hospitals that have the robotic capability.

We believe in research, training and transfer of knowldege to surgeons who are not experienced in advanced robotic colorectal surgery yet. We have participated in training surgeons from international and national institutions, such as the Cleveland Clinic.

Learn more about the da Vinci® Surgery and the Surgical System.