Luciano Juarez didn’t know he had a problem with
his heart, but he knew something was wrong. “I
couldn’t walk 20-feet before having to stop and rest,”
said the 53-year-old. A visit to his cardiologist and
several tests later, Juarez was told he needed openheart
surgery. “I didn’t want them to cut open my chest,”
explains Juarez. “I had seen people who had undergone the
surgery and didn’t want to get cut up like that.”
Fortunately for Juarez, there was an alternative, available at
Baptist Health System: Robotics. Juarez would become one of
the first people in San Antonio to undergo a heart bypass operation
performed by cardiac surgeon Carmelo Otero, M.D., using
robotically assisted surgery. Juarez underwent surgery on Friday
and on the next day was able to walk up a flight of stairs.
The operation was a success by all medical measures, but even
more of a success from a patient perspective. “All you could see
was this tiny cut in the side of my chest,” remarked Juarez. “I
heard other people on the same floor crying and moaning, but I
had no pain and never asked for any painkillers.”
Four years later, Dr. Otero has performed more than 200 robotic
cardiac procedures with similar results. “Patients are so grateful
they have this option available to them,” said Otero. “The difference
between open-heart surgery and robotic-assisted surgery is
night and day.”
Otero uses the robot to perform a number of cardiac procedures
from bypass to mitral valve repair, placing pacemaker
leads, correcting leaks in the heart, removing tumors and more.
“The main benefits for patients include faster recovery, less pain,
less blood loss, and of course the greatest benefit is that we don’t
have to cut open their chest,” said Otero. There are also significant
cosmetic benefits. Four small incisions are all that’s needed
to reach the heart and perform the corrective procedures.
The robotics operating room looks as if it’s equipped with a
giant XBOX or PlayStation virtual-reality game. “It’s the same
hand-eye coordination used in video games that surgeons use
when performing robotically assisted surgery,” explains Otero.
The surgeon sits at a console with a series of finger controls and
foot pedals that remotely operate four mechanical arms of the
robot. The surgeon directs the movements of the robot, which
allow for improved dexterity, greater surgical precision, better
access, increased range of motion and 3-dimensional visualization
of the operating area.
Baptist Health System is the only health system in San Antonio
to provide robotics technology for physicians and patients.
Herman Williams, M.D., Medical Director said the decision to
invest in the technology was an easy one. “Our physicians need
the best tools available to provide the best patient outcomes. So
when they asked for Robotics, we said yes.” Baptist has three da
Vinci robots from Intuitive Surgical, each of which cost over a
million dollars.
