da Vinci Safety

When considering surgical treatment options, many patients have concerns about safety. In particular, patients question whether da Vinci Surgery is as safe as traditional methods.

In fact, the da Vinci Surgical System has been used successfully in tens of thousands of minimally invasive procedures worldwide. In addition, da Vinci offers multiple, redundant safety features, which make the most effective, least invasive approach potentially as safe as traditional surgical methods.

First and foremost, the da Vinci System cannot be programmed, nor can it make decisions on its own. Instead, the da Vinci System requires that every surgical maneuver be performed with direct input from your surgeon.

With da Vinci Surgery, as with traditional methods, you are under the care of at least two medical professionals: Your surgeon as well as his or her supporting team. Your surgeon requires at least one assistant at your side during surgery. This team-member assists with tasks, such as switching between instruments, to provide your surgeon with the optimal da Vinci instrument for the procedure step being performed.

Just a few feet away, your surgeon operates using the console controls. As your surgeon maneuvers the controls, da Vinci scales, filters and translates his or her wrist and finger movements into precise movements of miniaturized instruments at the patient-side cart. Tremor reduction minimizes unintended movements, which means that da Vinci instruments can move in a more precise manner than a human hand.

And because the da Vinci Patient Cart does the work of holding and repositioning the instruments and camera – and because your surgeon operates while seated – surgeons can experience much less fatigue in performing surgery with the da Vinci System.

Finally, during the course of an operation, the da Vinci System will perform millions of safety self-checks. The System is designed to be fail-safe, which means that in the event of power interruption or a safety-check failure, the System is designed to shut down safely, allowing the surgeon to remain in control of the procedure.

Learn More

Follow this link for additional Important Safety Information; follow this link to review an index of selected clinical abstracts that provide detail on the safety and efficacy of the da Vinci System.