Selected Podcast
Center of Excellence - Robotic Surgery
Dr. Lorenc Malellari discusses Robotic Surgery.
Featured Speaker:
Lorenc Malellari, M.D. and F.A.C.S., F.A.S.C.R.S
Lorenc Malellari, MD, FACS, FASCRS graduated medical school at Robert Wood Johnson Medical school in NJ and completed General Surgery residency training at New York Medical College at Westchester Medical Center. Fellowship training in Colon and Rectal Surgery at UC Irvine focusing on the management of colon and rectal cancer and minimally invasive and robotic surgery. He is Board Certified in General Surgery and Colon and Rectal Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Transcription:
Center of Excellence - Robotic Surgery
Introduction: This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth.
Bill Klaproth: With robot assisted surgery, you can look forward to feeling better and getting back on your feet sooner. So let's learn more with Dr. Lorenc Malellari, a Colon and Rectal Surgeon medical director of the SA Camp Companies Robotic Surgical Center at Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield. Dr. Malellari, thank you for your time. So can you give us an overview of the Essay Camp Company's Robotic Surgery Program at Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield?
Dr. Malellari: Sure. So the Essay Camp Company Robotic Surgery Center is a new robotics program here at Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield. A Program that was started with excellent quality and patient safety in mind from the beginning. We were not the first robotic program in Bakersfield, but we want it to be the best.
Host: And that is always a worthy mission. So can you explain this to us? I think a lot of people might think that a robot is doing surgery on me, which isn't the case. So can you explain robotic surgery to us?
Dr. Malellari: Absolutely. And that's actually a comment I hear quite often. So you're absolutely correct. So while robotic surgery as the name states involves a robotic platform, the surgery itself is actually completely performed by the surgeon. Every aspect of the surgery from the beginning to the end is fully controlled and fully manipulated by the surgeon. What the robotic surgery allows or what the platform allows the surgeon to do however is reach areas that will be otherwise difficult to reach with, you know, with hands or with instruments. The robotic platform allows very small incisions to be made in the patient's abdomen and insert instruments, camera, and other surgical pieces of equipment that allow the surgeon to perform very complex surgeries through those small incisions. Now the small incisions have several benefits [inaudible] is the least of all, but the smaller the incision is the less pain the patient is going to feel. The smaller the incision is, the smaller the area that needs to heal as a wound. The less pain patient feels, the sooner they'll be able to get out of bed and ambulate or move around their hospital room or even at home. The sooner they'll feel ready to leave the hospital. The smaller the incisions, the more minimally invasive the procedures performed. We know that those procedures also have lower complication rates. Patients who have to stay in bed for long periods of time are at higher risk of getting things like pneumonia or infections, urinary tract infections. Robotic surgeries allows us to decrease those risks significantly.
Host: Yeah, that makes sense. So let me go over the benefits again as you really articulated this well. So smaller incisions means less recovery time, less pain and lower complication rates. And then for the surgeon, you mentioned a camera, this provides better vision, right? And it really gives you the ability to be really targeted in your surgical operation. Is that one of the benefits to the surgeon of robotic surgery?
Dr. Malellari: Yes it is. And it actually is a benefit to the surgeon and the patient. You know, robotic surgery camera actually has two cameras in it through the small opening in the belly, a double cameras in surgery. So you get stereoscopic vision inside the patient. Laparoscopic surgery does not have that. What stereoscopic vision means is that you're not just getting crystal clear pictures and images of what's going on inside, but you're actually getting depth perception. Basically the same way the surgeon sees with his or her own eyes is what the image of a robotic camera provides, which is extremely helpful in very meticulous dissections or complex procedures.
Host: Well, the benefits for you and the patient are easy to see. So what procedures at Dignity Health Mercy Hospital use robotic surgery?
Dr. Malellari: So currently we have quite a few specialties offering robotic surgery to their, to their patients. This includes general surgeries for things like hernia procedures or gallbladder removals, colorectal surgery, which involves benign disease like diverticulitis for example, or even cancer surgery like colon cancer or rectal cancer. We also have OB GYN physicians who provide robotic surgery to their patients. OB GYN oncologist who provides or offers, I should say his services on patients who have GYN cancers like uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, or cervical cancer. Also a Euro gynecologist who provides care to patients who have pelvic floor dysfunction and urinary symptoms. And also urologists. And think about things like kidney cancer, prostate cancer, even benign lesions that usually would require quite extensive surgeries and incisions are being offered through a robotic platform.
Host: So a very wide range of robot assisted surgery is available. So you have achieved a Center of Excellence Designation in Robotics. Can you explain to us what that is?
Dr. Malellari: Yeah, so when we set up this program, as I mentioned earlier, you know, excellence, quality, and patient safety were kind of at the top of list as far as the pillars where we're going to build this this program and the center on. But while we endeavor to make sure that that was the case, both with our own monitoring of the program we wanted an independent evaluation of the program to confirm for us that the work that we're doing was indeed showing those efforts. So we engaged Surgical Review Corporation or known as SRC, which is a nonprofit independent patient safety organization that does accreditation of facilities in multi specialties. This is a company that's international is accredited facilities in more than 35 countries in the world and has a very rigorous review process. And that is what we engage to evaluate our program so to speak and show us that the work that we were doing was actually bearing fruits and we had that evaluation performed, you know, and after that rigorous review of all the robotic procedures that we had done over a past year, including the quality of the procedure, the safety of the procedure, but also patient outcomes from that procedure. And this review, by the way also involved a onsite evaluation of the facility and the staff by this organization. We were designated as a center of excellence in robotic surgery.
Host: So what does this designation mean for the public then?
Dr. Malellari: You know, for the designation obviously makes us feel good about the, the efforts that we put into this program. But at the end of the day is the benefits to our community and to our patients that matters. And what really, what this means is that our patients in our community can see the value of the program that we have. And when we stayed that we're, you know, we value and we care about the excellence and the quality of the care that we provide to our patients is not just a lip service that you know, most people hear from organizations all the time. This is backed up by an independent review of our program. That basically, you know, we hope that will provide patients with the confidence that the program is giving them excellent world class care.
Host: And then Dr. Malellari, last question. What else do Bakersfield residents need to know about Mercy Hospital and their robotic surgery program?
Dr. Malellari: I think the Bakersfield residents and the community at large needs to basically be aware that this program is here. This program is well established now. And especially with the independent review that we had, we're able to offer our patients and our community excellent care in robotic surgery right here in Bakersfield. And we'll continue to strive to not only maintain this excellence, but improve it as time moves forward.
Host: Really important and so happy to have this valuable surgery program right here in our backyard. Dr. Malellari, thank you so much for explaining robotic assisted surgery to us today.
Dr. Malellari: Thank you, Bill. Thanks for having me.
Host: That's Dr. Lorenc Malellari And to learn more, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield/roboticsurgery. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth, thanks for listening.
Center of Excellence - Robotic Surgery
Introduction: This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth.
Bill Klaproth: With robot assisted surgery, you can look forward to feeling better and getting back on your feet sooner. So let's learn more with Dr. Lorenc Malellari, a Colon and Rectal Surgeon medical director of the SA Camp Companies Robotic Surgical Center at Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield. Dr. Malellari, thank you for your time. So can you give us an overview of the Essay Camp Company's Robotic Surgery Program at Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield?
Dr. Malellari: Sure. So the Essay Camp Company Robotic Surgery Center is a new robotics program here at Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield. A Program that was started with excellent quality and patient safety in mind from the beginning. We were not the first robotic program in Bakersfield, but we want it to be the best.
Host: And that is always a worthy mission. So can you explain this to us? I think a lot of people might think that a robot is doing surgery on me, which isn't the case. So can you explain robotic surgery to us?
Dr. Malellari: Absolutely. And that's actually a comment I hear quite often. So you're absolutely correct. So while robotic surgery as the name states involves a robotic platform, the surgery itself is actually completely performed by the surgeon. Every aspect of the surgery from the beginning to the end is fully controlled and fully manipulated by the surgeon. What the robotic surgery allows or what the platform allows the surgeon to do however is reach areas that will be otherwise difficult to reach with, you know, with hands or with instruments. The robotic platform allows very small incisions to be made in the patient's abdomen and insert instruments, camera, and other surgical pieces of equipment that allow the surgeon to perform very complex surgeries through those small incisions. Now the small incisions have several benefits [inaudible] is the least of all, but the smaller the incision is the less pain the patient is going to feel. The smaller the incision is, the smaller the area that needs to heal as a wound. The less pain patient feels, the sooner they'll be able to get out of bed and ambulate or move around their hospital room or even at home. The sooner they'll feel ready to leave the hospital. The smaller the incisions, the more minimally invasive the procedures performed. We know that those procedures also have lower complication rates. Patients who have to stay in bed for long periods of time are at higher risk of getting things like pneumonia or infections, urinary tract infections. Robotic surgeries allows us to decrease those risks significantly.
Host: Yeah, that makes sense. So let me go over the benefits again as you really articulated this well. So smaller incisions means less recovery time, less pain and lower complication rates. And then for the surgeon, you mentioned a camera, this provides better vision, right? And it really gives you the ability to be really targeted in your surgical operation. Is that one of the benefits to the surgeon of robotic surgery?
Dr. Malellari: Yes it is. And it actually is a benefit to the surgeon and the patient. You know, robotic surgery camera actually has two cameras in it through the small opening in the belly, a double cameras in surgery. So you get stereoscopic vision inside the patient. Laparoscopic surgery does not have that. What stereoscopic vision means is that you're not just getting crystal clear pictures and images of what's going on inside, but you're actually getting depth perception. Basically the same way the surgeon sees with his or her own eyes is what the image of a robotic camera provides, which is extremely helpful in very meticulous dissections or complex procedures.
Host: Well, the benefits for you and the patient are easy to see. So what procedures at Dignity Health Mercy Hospital use robotic surgery?
Dr. Malellari: So currently we have quite a few specialties offering robotic surgery to their, to their patients. This includes general surgeries for things like hernia procedures or gallbladder removals, colorectal surgery, which involves benign disease like diverticulitis for example, or even cancer surgery like colon cancer or rectal cancer. We also have OB GYN physicians who provide robotic surgery to their patients. OB GYN oncologist who provides or offers, I should say his services on patients who have GYN cancers like uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, or cervical cancer. Also a Euro gynecologist who provides care to patients who have pelvic floor dysfunction and urinary symptoms. And also urologists. And think about things like kidney cancer, prostate cancer, even benign lesions that usually would require quite extensive surgeries and incisions are being offered through a robotic platform.
Host: So a very wide range of robot assisted surgery is available. So you have achieved a Center of Excellence Designation in Robotics. Can you explain to us what that is?
Dr. Malellari: Yeah, so when we set up this program, as I mentioned earlier, you know, excellence, quality, and patient safety were kind of at the top of list as far as the pillars where we're going to build this this program and the center on. But while we endeavor to make sure that that was the case, both with our own monitoring of the program we wanted an independent evaluation of the program to confirm for us that the work that we're doing was indeed showing those efforts. So we engaged Surgical Review Corporation or known as SRC, which is a nonprofit independent patient safety organization that does accreditation of facilities in multi specialties. This is a company that's international is accredited facilities in more than 35 countries in the world and has a very rigorous review process. And that is what we engage to evaluate our program so to speak and show us that the work that we were doing was actually bearing fruits and we had that evaluation performed, you know, and after that rigorous review of all the robotic procedures that we had done over a past year, including the quality of the procedure, the safety of the procedure, but also patient outcomes from that procedure. And this review, by the way also involved a onsite evaluation of the facility and the staff by this organization. We were designated as a center of excellence in robotic surgery.
Host: So what does this designation mean for the public then?
Dr. Malellari: You know, for the designation obviously makes us feel good about the, the efforts that we put into this program. But at the end of the day is the benefits to our community and to our patients that matters. And what really, what this means is that our patients in our community can see the value of the program that we have. And when we stayed that we're, you know, we value and we care about the excellence and the quality of the care that we provide to our patients is not just a lip service that you know, most people hear from organizations all the time. This is backed up by an independent review of our program. That basically, you know, we hope that will provide patients with the confidence that the program is giving them excellent world class care.
Host: And then Dr. Malellari, last question. What else do Bakersfield residents need to know about Mercy Hospital and their robotic surgery program?
Dr. Malellari: I think the Bakersfield residents and the community at large needs to basically be aware that this program is here. This program is well established now. And especially with the independent review that we had, we're able to offer our patients and our community excellent care in robotic surgery right here in Bakersfield. And we'll continue to strive to not only maintain this excellence, but improve it as time moves forward.
Host: Really important and so happy to have this valuable surgery program right here in our backyard. Dr. Malellari, thank you so much for explaining robotic assisted surgery to us today.
Dr. Malellari: Thank you, Bill. Thanks for having me.
Host: That's Dr. Lorenc Malellari And to learn more, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield/roboticsurgery. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth, thanks for listening.