UAMS surgeons' use of robot a first for state.(HEALTH CARE)

Two surgeons at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences recently became the first medical professionals in Arkansas to perform parathyroid surgeries using the da Vinci Surgical System robot.

When Dr. Brendan C. Stack Jr., chief of head and neck surgery in the department of otolaryngology, discovered a faulty parathyroid gland in Kelli Murphy's chest, a foot south of its normal location in the neck, he and heart surgeon Dr. Gareth Tobler had two choices. Either the doctors could cut through the breast bone to gain access to the defective gland, which was buried deep in the chest of the 32-year-old Little Rock resident, or they could remove it with a less invasive procedure using an endoscope.

"In this case, we chose the minimally invasive approach with the added advantages of the robot," Stack said in a news release.

The robot provides a magnified, high-resolution, three-dimensional view inside the body and precise control of surgical instruments. Also, the surgery requires only a tiny incision, which results in a shorter healing period.

"This is really cutting-edge; to the best of our knowledge these were only the third and fourth such robotic cases done in the United States, and the first in Arkansas," Stack said.

About 10 percent of the approximately 3,000 patients treated each year at the UAMS Thyroid Center undergo thyroid or parathyroid surgery.

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