Trumbull Doctor Honored after Performing 1,000th Robotic Surgery
WARREN, Ohio – With smaller incisions, less pain leading to fewer narcotics needed, a shorter stay in the hospital and faster recovery, abdominal surgeries with the da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system are beneficial for patients.
Those are just some of the benefits, according to Dr. Pablo Giuseppucci, who was honored Monday after performing his 1,000th robotic surgery at Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull, formerly Trumbull Regional Medical Center. Giuseppucci, a general and robotic surgeon who came to the hospital in 2021, said patients experience much less blood loss during robotic surgeries and have a better outcome overall.
“We do open surgery with small incisions,” Giuseppucci said. “I am able to do my full skills with hands, 360-degree rotations in suturing and managing the whole instruments during the surgery as I do in open surgery.”
The four robotic arms give the surgeon an extra pair of hands and allow Giuseppucci to have full control from the comfort of a chair nearby, seated at a surgeon console that allows him to use both hand and foot controls as he operates. While there is often a team working together in the room, including Cory Rongo, a surgical assistant; Amelia Hanna, BSN/RN; and Landry Umbu, a chief resident who is learning to do robotic surgeries, Giuseppucci said the surgeon has full control of three sets of instruments at once, with one arm holding a high-resolution camera so he can see clearly what is happening inside the patient.
“We have the ability to actually magnify 20 times the naked eye inside,” Hanna said, adding that the surgeon can also see in 3DHD, which gives him the ability to see things more clearly than traditional surgery.
The robot is precise, using surgical scissors that are the size of a fingernail. Operating in a pocket created by CO2 gas placed within the body, there is enough room for the small mechanical instruments to navigate in as little as 1 square inch of space, accessed through small incisions instead of a large opening.
Screens on both sides of the patient allow members of the team to see what is happening, react as needed and prepare to change out the tools on the arms if necessary.
Though he was the one being honored Monday, Giuseppucci also talked about the importance of the team around him. The da Vinci Xi allows the hospital to train residents to perform the surgeries as well, with 3D models allowing them to practice and hone their expertise, level by level, before ever touching an actual patient.
There are many internal repairs that can be done with the assistance of the da Vinci Xi robotic equipment. Giuseppucci’s robotic surgery milestone was reached by doing a variety of minimally invasive surgical procedures, including gall bladders, hernias, small bowel surgeries, colon, hiatal hernias and esophageal procedures.
He remembers his first surgery, a patient with a severe hernia who had lost the ability to function normally. After the surgery, he saw that patient mowing his own lawn again.
“Trumbull always has had a good robotic surgery program since 2013,” Giuseppucci said, adding that the equipment is no longer new, but the technology is advancing.
Pictured at top: Dr. Pablo Giuseppucci was honored Monday after performing his 1,000th robotic surgery.
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