At the end of March four special procedures were performed on children at Shaare Zedek using a new robotic system called the Da Vinci Surgical System. This is the newest and most advanced system available and we’ll be using it across a number of departments.
These operations were carried out by Professor Boris Chertin who is the Head of Pediatric Urology at the hospital, working in conjunction with Dr. Paul H. Noh, a Urologist who is the Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Noh is a world renowned specialist in minimally invasive surgery in children.
Professor Chertin explained that robotics has been used widely in Israel for certain applications such as the treatment of prostate cancer and bladder cancer. However, “The use of the Da Vinci Surgical System, a minimally invasive robotic surgery, allows for complex surgeries in children of all ages including very young infants…This new system provides greater accuracy, allowing for maximum success, especially when it comes to children…We used this system to perform a Pyeloplasty on an 11 month old baby. This was the first time that this procedure was performed on a baby so young in Israel and we were able to let the baby go home after 48 hours. The recovery time is significantly lower compared to open surgery and even compared to conventional laparoscopy procedures…We look forward to being able to help many more children with such medical issues.”
Shaare Zedek Medical Centre gives thanks to USAID/Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad for their equipment grant which helped make the purchase of the Da Vinci Surgical System possible.