Overlake Hospital Medical Center’s Dr. Adel El-Ghazzawy performed one of the region’s first single-site robotic assisted cholecystectomies (gallbladder removal surgery) Monday, using a single incision through the belly button.

Each year about 1 million people undergo gallbladder surgery in the United States and thanks to the new single-site advancement to the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, doctors can complete the surgery in roughly the same amount of time as a lunch break.

“One of our main goals at Overlake is to provide our patients with the safest, most effective medical care possible,” said Overlake Director of Surgery Helene Schultz. “The new single-site advancement to the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System allows doctors to perform minimally invasive surgery that offers enhanced precision, control and stability, 3D visualization and is quicker than traditional techniques.”

The robotic system does not function independently; it is under complete control of the surgeon at all times and helps eliminate many of the variables that exist during laparoscopy (minimally invasive surgery), including a limited field of vision and restricted range of motion.

“This new technology allows us to perform a safer and more effective surgery that allows patients to be released sooner and recover faster,” said El-Ghazzawy.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. received an FDA-approval on the single-site advancement to the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System for cholecystectomy procedures – allowing surgeons to reduce the number of incisions from four, down to one that is less than an inch in length.

Overlake Hospital Medical Center is a nonprofit, non-tax-supported regional medical center with a network of medical clinics throughout the Eastside.