CRMC to Roll Out New Surgical Robot [VIDEO]

Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC) is hoping a new surgical robot will provide better outcomes and quicker recovery times.

CRMC recently purchased a $1.9 million da Vinci Xi Surgical System as part of its focus on offering state-of-the-art, minimally invasive options for patients undergoing surgery.

"I've been waiting for ten years for us to get a robot here at Cheyenne Regional," said Dr. James Lugg, a Urologist at CRMC. "We're very excited to be able to bring the Xi system here because it's the most advanced urologist robot that's out there. It let's us make much smaller scars, we don't have to make a large incision on the patient in order to get the surgery done."

Not only will the robot speed up surgery, it will also allow surgeons to do more complicated procedures.

"If we're taking out part of the kidney, for example, it allows us to use special filters to see where the tumor is on the kidney so that we can make sure that we're getting the entire tumor out," said Dr. Lugg. "We have less blood loss, less infection and fewer complications."

Dr. Lugg says another benefit to having the da Vinci Xi system is that it will help the hospital recruit new physicians.

"Every surgeon that's being trained now is being trained on the da Vinci robot," said Dr. Lugg. "I would say that 85% of surgeries, such as radical prostatectomy, are being done robotically now instead of open or lathroscopic. So it will allow us to attract, I think, a better trained doctor to the Cheyenne community."

CRMC is the first hospital in the state to offer the da Vinci Xi system and will start using the robot for surgeries in mid-November.

The da Vinci Xi is the second robotic surgical system to be purchased by CRMC is the last year. The first system, known as MAKOplasty, has been used since May to perform partial knee and total hip replacements.