da Vinci reliability
For all the advanced features for the da Vinci surgical system it is surprisingly reliable.
Dr Ahlering at University of California Irvine wrote a review article for the AUA Update series where he commented that his first 200 cases had 5 problems. 4 cases were delayed because of software problems that were easily fixed. There was one case that involved a power outage when the backup battery was not charged and he finished the case laparoscopically.
I have performed 62 robotic operations with only 2 problems.
One day we arrived at the operation and had a wire to our 4th arm severed.
We did the operation with only 3 arms the way lots of places that don't have the 4 arm machine do it, with 3 arms- a camera and 2 instruments.
Our other problem was a faulty connection between the left arm and the instrument. We had to put it on and off a few times before it would engage. It delayed us a few minutes. If it didn't engage, we would have redocked the robot with only 3 arms.
If I had a complete failure, I would have the option of finishing the operation laparoscopically or open. It would depend on the patients anatomy and if I thought I could do it laparoscopically or open better. I think this would be a rare event.
Domenico Savatta, M.D.
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Comments
Hi,
I'm glad I had the opportunity to take a look at your web site + Blog today. I've been developing a Blog on robotic surgery since may 2005. Of course, I hope that my readers will go and check out your blog and web site + I hope you won't mind the exposure on my Blog!
Regards,
Catherine
Posted by: Catherine Coste | November 23, 2005 5:24 PM
At our hospital we (all surgeons, not just our group) have done approximately 450 urology procedures. Our group is responsible for 80-90% of those cases and I can report that a 2% device failure rate may even be high. As Ahlering reported many of the "failures" were easily fixed and never has a patient's safety been compromised.
Ahlering mentioned the improper charging of the backup battery resulting in a conversion when the power failed. I wonder how long ago that was? Recently my partner was going to do a case and the staff found that the backup battery was not properly charged. The current version of the software would not allow the robot to work off wall power without a fully charged backup battery. The case was delayed until later that day when a battery was "borrowed" from another facility in town. It seems the engineers may have built in further redundancy for patient safety since Ahlering's case.
Dale Russell, M.D.
http://urologychannel.com/scottsdale/
Posted by: Dale Russell, M.D. | November 24, 2005 2:36 PM