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  2,000th robotic-assisted surgery at MultiCare

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  MultiCare Health System surgeons reached a South Sound medical milestone when they performed their 2,000th robotic-assisted surgery.

  The surgery -- a hysterectomy -- was performed July 18 by Dr. Clare Cammarano on 42-year-old Danielle Pethick at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital.

  “I’m a mom, so I don’t have time to be down,” said Pethick, a Tacoma woman who has a 12-year-old son.

  Pethick said that robotic-assisted surgery fit her lifestyle because the procedure offered at MultiCare is the least-invasive option, involves smaller incisions and has a faster recovery time.

  Not only did MultiCare pioneer daVinci robotic-assisted surgery in the South Sound, but MultiCare's robotic-certified surgeons have collectively clocked more hours doing these exacting procedures than anyone else in the area. MultiCare implemented the South Sound’s first robotic-assisted gynecological surgical and prostate surgical programs in 2005, and expanded the use of robotic-assisted surgery to cardiothoracic procedures in 2008.

  “My best friend referred me to Dr. Cammarano, who is well known among women around Tacoma,” Pethick said. “Honestly, a hysterectomy is emotional to begin with. But Dr. Cammarano made the recovery pretty easy. I’m not even two weeks out, and I’m doing great. I went to my son’s baseball game six days after surgery. It’s been a great experience -- I have a girlfriend who is considering it now.”

  MultiCare is one of three Epicenter Teaching Centers for robotic-assisted gynecologic surgery using the daVinci Surgical System on the West Coast, and one of 23 in the nation. Dr. John Lenihan, Medical Director of MultiCare’s Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery program, was the first gynecological surgeon in the Pacific Northwest to use robotic-assisted surgical techniques for gynecological surgeries.

  Robotic-assisted surgery offers patients benefits, including less pain, less blood loss, less scarring, smaller incisions, shorter hospital stays and a faster return to everyday life. Robotic–assisted surgeries are performed at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital, MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, and at MultiCare Allenmore Hospital in Tacoma.

  To learn more about robotic-assisted surgery, call 1-888-871-7088 or visit http://www.multicare.org/home/robotic-technology-2

  Posted on Aug 4, 2011 in News Release