ENT Surgeons Who Use daVinci Robot

Readers know my skepticism on the practicality of the daVinci robot in ENT head and neck surgeries.

However, that does not mean that I do not doubt its effectiveness in certain unique situations... as well as market forces that use such high (and expensive) technology to market a given hospital's services.

In any case, plenty of patients have asked me if there's any ENT surgeons who use the daVinci robot in the region.

There are... and here are two that I am aware of.

Dr. David Shonka at UVA
Dr. Stan Chia at Georgetown

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daVinci Surgical Robot Makes Paper Airplane... Yawn!

A blog reader of mine informed me about this YouTube video of a surgeon, Dr. James Porter, making a paper airplane using a daVinci surgical robot.

For those unawares, the daVinci robot is used to assist the surgeon in "difficult-to-reach" procedures. It is used in the fields of urology, ENT, gynecology, and general surgery.

There is much debate whether the daVinci robot really is worth it.

This paper airplane video is a perfect example of why it is NOT worth the $1.3 million price tag.

Why?

Because I can make a paper airplane with my own two hands that is just as good as the one made by the robot, even if it is smaller than a penny... and I can do it faster and WAY more cheaply.

I should also point out that the paper airplane made by the robot couldn't even fly...

NOW... what would have been a much more impressive video and would highlight specifically what the daVinci robot can do that a human would not have been able to do is to make a paper airplane INSIDE of a wine bottle.

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Robotic Surgery for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

I came across this article the other day regarding use of the daVinci robot to perform base of tongue surgery for obstructive sleep apnea.

For those who don't know, the daVinci robot system made by Intuitive Surgical is a robotic system whereby the surgeon directs the arms of the robot to perform surgery in difficult-to-access areas of the body.

My feeling is that using a robot to perform sleep apnea surgery is way overkill akin to using a $50,000 sniper rifle to kill an ant on the wall.

Everything the daVinci robot can do can also be done without the robot with equivalent patient outcomes. In fact, without the robot, the surgery can be performed more quickly, efficiently, and with less anesthesia than with the robot.

The article also describes sedated (sleep) endoscopy to determine WHERE the obstruction occurs during sleep. The areas of obstruction can than be precisely addressed surgically. Again, this does not require a robot. In fact, I would hazard to say that even the surgeons quoted in the article does not use the robot to perform this procedure.

There are occasions where the robot may be helpful with ENT surgical procedures, but this is not one of them.

Reference:
N.J. surgeons on the cutting edge in fight against sleep apnea.

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