Video: Patient at Mother Frances Receives Heart Bypass Without Ope...( Procedure Done Robotically Thro...),Health

Procedure Done Robotically Through Four Small Holes Between Ribs

Patient Released From Hospital After 1 1/2 Days

TYLER, Texas, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- 62-year-old Canton resident Luther Roden, a patient at Mother Frances Hospital, is the first in east Texas to benefit from a heart bypass procedure done totally endoscopically using the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. Mr. Roden was released from the hospital just 1 1/2 days after the procedure.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/tmfhs/30785/

Heart surgeons at Mother Frances have used the system since February 2004, but this is the first bypass procedure done without any extensive incisions. Officials with the Trinity Mother Frances Heart Institute say the new approach can reduce a patient's hospital stay to as few as two days and pain is minimal compared to traditional bypass procedures, which include opening the chest cavity.

"The Trinity Mother Frances Heart Institute has led the way in cardiac care since Mother Frances Hospital was the first in east Texas to offer heart bypass surgery in 1983," said Michael J. Vintges, vice president, cardiac services and the Center For Advanced Surgery And Technology, Trinity Mother Frances Health System. "The Health System's commitment to the most advanced cardiac care is evident in this latest procedure we're now offering to our heart patients."

William F. Turner, Jr., MD, a Tyler cardiovascular surgeon with Turner Cardiovascular Associates, is the only heart surgeon in Texas currently offering a totally endoscopic robotic bypass procedure. He was the first to use da Vinci at Mother Frances for a cardiac procedure in 2004 and since then, has performed 130 robotic-assisted procedures. He performed the latest procedure on November 7. Dr. Turner says the totally endoscopic technique is yet another positive applicatio
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