Memorial's Chief of Robotic Surgery Performs Area's First Single Site Robotic Hysterectomy

Memorial's chief of robotic surgery, Dr. Donna Feldman, has pioneered a new surgical procedure at Niagara Falls Memorial, performing the first single site robotic hysterectomy in Niagara County.

The procedure, which was performed last month using the DaVinci robotic surgical system, is virtually scar-less and can benefit women in several ways.

"Single-site robotic surgery, also known as single incision surgery, is a significant advance over minimally invasive hysterectomies requiring multiple incisions," said Dr. Feldman. "The surgery is performed with one incision through the patient's belly button, which leaves an almost invisible scar."

While the surgeon sits behind a computer that magnifies an area under operation far greater than the human eye can see, he controls the robot which, with its four “hands”, can perform with a precision greater than any human can manually. This results in, among other advantages, a much smaller incision which, promotes speedier recoveries.

Benefits for the patient can include less blood loss, fewer complications and shorter hospital stays than are experienced following vaginal or abdominal hysterectomies. Women who undergo a single-site hysterectomy often go home within a day of their surgery and are able to resume normal activities in two weeks.

"The typical recovery time is significantly quicker than that from a traditional hysterectomy," Dr. Feldman said.

Memorial introduced robotic surgery to the Greater Niagara Region in 2012. Its surgical team offers robotic procedures for hernia repair, abdominal reconstruction and other general surgeries including single incision gallbladder removal, as well as for benign and cancerous conditions in gynecology, urology, nephrology, colorectal and bariatrics. "Robotic surgeries are more and more becoming the standard of care," said Dr. Feldman.

While Dr. Donna Feldman recently performed the region’s first single site hysterectomy, robotic surgery is widely seen as the future standard of care for hysterectomies.