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Surgeries using the new da Vinci Xi® robotically-assisted surgical platform hit the century mark at Aspen Valley Hospital faster than anyone expected.
In just ten months since its adoption, the da Vinci robotically-assisted surgical platform has been used in more than 100 abdominal procedures by surgeons Chris Roseberry, MD, and Les Fraser, MD, FACS.
Patients are reporting less pain and quicker recoveries thanks to the robotically-assisted laparoscopic surgeries. And it appears they are spreading the word.
The number of operations performed at the Hospital is up to four per week, equating to a 43 percent increase in the first three months of 2024 compared to 2023.
“The da Vinci allows us to offer state-of-the art, minimally invasive surgery here in the Roaring Fork Valley so people don’t have to make the trip to Denver,” says Dr. Roseberry. “It’s a far better technology both for patients and surgical teams.”
For Patients, Less is More
Robotically-assisted laparoscopic surgeries have largely replaced traditional laparoscopic surgical methods at hospitals across the country. The reason is simple: patients experience less postoperative pain, fewer complications and infections, less scarring and shorter recovery times when they undergo surgery with the da Vinci.
“Patients are universally very happy with da Vinci,” Dr. Roseberry says. “In general, they are experiencing far less pain for two reasons—it’s a faster operation, and the improved visualization and instrument mobility means less trauma to the muscle tissue.”
Aspen Valley Hospital’s experience is hardly unique. A recent study examining outcomes for one million patients over the last 10 years found that those who underwent robotic-assisted surgeries spent less time in the hospital and had a lower risk of conversion to an open operation, which occurs when things don’t go as planned.
“The whole idea with surgery is less is more,” says Dr. Fraser. “The less you manipulate tissue, the less you move things around, the quicker the patient can heal with less discomfort. This platform really allows us to provide the best surgical experience available today.”
Emergency Surgery and Rapid Recovery
Snowmass Village resident Robert Jones has nothing but praise for his recent experience with da Vinci robotically-assisted surgery at the Hospital.
He had been experiencing sharp pains intermittently throughout the day and always after he ate. The pain generally went away and wasn’t acute until one night after eating dinner when the pain sharpened, and his breathing became labored. He drove to the emergency room at Aspen Valley Hospital where he met Dr. Fraser.
Dr. Fraser diagnosed Jones with a traumatic diaphragmatic hernia, where a hole develops in the diaphragm and the stomach pushes into the lung cavity. Dr. Fraser recommended surgery with the da Vinci platform because its precision instrumentation makes it less likely the procedure would accidentally damage the esophagus or other organs.
Jones went into surgery the next day and woke up later that afternoon in his hospital room with no memory of the procedure and five small holes in his abdomen that were already beginning to heal.
“I never felt any soreness in my abdomen—and they had just moved my stomach back down and sewed up my diaphragm,” Jones says. “I think da Vinci’s advantage is that doctors don’t have to go through a lot of muscle or nerves. I’m not sore, and I can still do a sit-up. That’s amazing.”
Jones’ lungs are now healing, and he’s riding his bicycle regularly.
The Power of Learning
On the AVH surgical team, Dr. Roseberry is the seasoned hand with the da Vinci platform. He previously used the da Vinci at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire and was instrumental in helping Aspen Valley Hospital adopt the technology.
Dr. Fraser and the rest of the surgical staff were new to the technology and welcomed the opportunity to advance their learning.
“Our nurses, techs and I all went through the training together, both here and in Houston, which built camaraderie and excitement about this new platform,” he says. “It’s really energized our team.”
Dr. Fraser is particularly impressed with the da Vinci technology’s binocular vision and the 360-degree mobility of its instrumentation. “It really allows us to do surgery the way it was meant to be done,” he says.
Drs. Roseberry and Fraser are now performing complex surgeries such as rectal cancer and complex hiatal hernia repairs that previously were not available at the Hospital.
“We would refer those cases to be done robotically at other facilities because that really has become the standard of care for those operations. But now we’re doing them here in Aspen, so our patients can get the high level of care they need and recover closer to home,” Dr. Roseberry says.
Patient-centered ROI
Hospital CEO Dave Ressler says the da Vinci is a long-term investment in the community’s healthcare. Its state-of-the-art technology fits into the AVH mission to provide the highest standard of care possible. But more importantly, patients now have better access to this technology and are experiencing better outcomes.
“We need to measure the return on investment as the reason we’re here—which is taking care of the patients in our community,” Ressler says. “The da Vinci platform allows us to help more people with better results.”
