Michigan hospital uses robotics to remove kidney

DETROIT─Three-dimensional robotics aided surgeons at Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan, remove a diseased kidney through a single incision, the hospital announced August 25 in a news release.

The minimally invasive procedure, known SIRS or Single Incision Robotic Surgery, lasted approximately two and half hours on a 50-year-old patient whose kidney was destroyed by four tumors.

SIRS, which is done through a three-inch incision near the navel, allows access to the kidney without damaging muscle or bone tissue while in addition allowing a shorter recover time, a reduced risk of complication and minimal scaring

SIRS can be performed on cancer patients as well as those with nonfunctioning kidneys due to blockage, stones, or congenital abnormalities.

Henry Ford’s director of robotic renal surgery, Craig Rogers, M.D. said “We made several improvements in the technique that could allow us to perform this type of procedure routinely.”

Source: Henry Ford Health System