By SARAH PIERCE – Robotic surgery will have you going nuts and bolts! The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world and impacted multiple layers of our society. 

You never know when a family member, a friend, or yourself might be sent to the hospital. This is something important to know about because you could need surgery and this is what the surgeon could be using on you or a loved one. It is especially important to be informed about these procedures because of the pandemic.

All frontline workers, and in particular those in direct contact with patients, have been exposed to major risk. In order to keep frontline workers and patients safe, many have stepped up and found ways to assure safety during procedures. 

Senior Chloe Kocinski stated, “I think that robotic surgery has helped during the pandemic because it is able to limit patient/surgeon contact. Non essential surgeries could be done via robotic surgery to allow people to have them with less risk. I think robotic surgeries have both ups and downs for patients and healthcare workers, but in our world now, it seems to be helping avoid contact between patients and healthcare workers. Another option if we didn’t have this would be cancelling all elective surgeries and patients having to pass a covid test before getting the surgery.”

Robotic surgery has become a very important aspect in hospitals during the pandemic. Robotic surgery was initially designed to permit a surgical procedure while being a safe distance from the patient and not touching the patient. 

Senior Lilly Nath stated, “Robotic surgery has helped patients and frontline workers immensely during the pandemic. It provides a safer way to have procedures done and requires less attention so workers can focus on more serious cases.”

These machines have been being used not only just in the United States, but right here in Indiana. 

Senior Sarah Love stated, “Since robotic surgery doesn’t have as much contact with patients as normal surgery does it has helped through the pandemic with knowing patients will be safe since there is minimal contact. I think it is good for both workers and patients because it is more precise with details in surgery which have a great outcome for both the surgeon who performed the operation and the patient. If we didn’t have this type of operation I think another outlook would be to see how they can have less contact with both the team in the room and the patient with extra safety measures compared to a normal operation.”

There is an article on the IRMC website about how this machine works and why it is such a big step forward in technology and helping people especially during the outbreak. Surgeons are still controlling the robot and are just distanced from the patient.

For more information on local robotic surgery, you can use this link:

https://www.irmc.org/services/surgical-services/minimally-invasive-and-robotic-surgery/