Surgeons Dr. Brent Soder and Dr. Mark Donovan

Robotic Surgery Now Available in Douglas County

CHI Mercy Health is pleased to announce that advanced robot-assisted technology is now being used to benefit Douglas County patients requiring certain surgical procedures.

Among its many benefits, robotic technology enhances surgeons’ ability to see inside the body and provides greater range of motion than the human hand. It also speeds patient recovery through smaller incisions.

The robot doesn’t act on its own; the surgeon directs all the robot’s hand movements using a state-of-the-art interface system.

“It’s not a machine doing the surgery,” explains Roseburg surgeon Dr. Brent Soder. “The robot is doing what the surgeon directs it to do and mimicking the hand movements we do outside the body on the interface system.”

Surgeon Dr. Mark Donovan compares robotic procedures to laparoscopic (lap) surgeries, in which the surgeon manipulates tools inserted into small incisions. But there are important differences.

“Performing a lap surgery requires us to use straight, rigid instruments that we can’t bend,” Dr. Donovan notes. “The robot’s ‘hands’ have six degrees of movement, so they bend and rotate far greater than a surgeon’s hands.”

In addition, the robotic arms provide surgeons with high-definition, three-dimensional vision, which allows them to see a degree of depth not previously available.

Compared with traditional open surgery, robotic surgery has shown to provide a wide range of benefits to patients. These include shorter hospitalizations; reduced pain and discomfort; smaller incisions, which can lead to faster patient recovery times, minimized scarring, reduced infection risks and reduced blood loss.

Centennial Surgery and CHI Mercy Health have partnered together to be able to make the many benefits of this advanced surgical tool available to many Douglas County surgical patients.