- Sand Castle Days Continued Despite Unexpected Weather
- Ready for District
- Discussion of Garbage Dumpster Rates, Agreements Between State & City on Highway Regulations, and More
- 31st Annual Shrimp Cook-Off is Right Around the Corner
- LFHS Cross Country
- Local Company is Helping People With a Mission in Mind
- Valley Native Bringing Advanced Oncology Services To UT Health RGV Cancer and Surgery Center
- Los Fresnos Annual Cook-Off Is Right Around The Corner
- Los Fresnos Falcons Hold Meet and Greet for the Community
- Los Fresnos Locals Open Up a New Business in Town
Da Vinci Surgical System Shown to the Public at VBMC Hospitals
- Updated: May 25, 2018
Dr. Jose Nieves demonstrates how the Da Vinci Surgical system works at VBMC in Brownsville. Photo: Tony Vindell/LFN
by Tony Vindell/LFN
A relatively new system to perform a number of surgeries using a spider-like robot was displayed at the two Valley Baptist Medical Center hospitals.
The robotic system is called Da Vinci Surgical and it was at VBMC-Harlingen on Thursday, May 17 and at VBMC-Brownsville the day before.
The less invasive system is being used in a number of surgical procedures, leaves smaller scars and allows a patient to recover in less time, compared to conventional surgeries.
Dr. Jose Nieves, one seven certified robotic surgeons at the Brownsville hospital, said any type of surgery comes with a risk, but the Da Vinci system lowers that.
He estimates it takes about two weeks for a patient to recover from surgery on the average, instead of a month or longer.
An average of 150 robotic surgeries are performed at VBMC in Brownsville.
A Da Vinci system costs about $1.9 million with eight of them located in Rio Grande Valley hospitals today.