Robotic surgery comes to Keesler

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Surgeons at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi are cutting a new path in military medicine by being the first AF medical facility to use one of the more advanced robotic surgery systems - da Vinci Xi - available today. Keesler Medical Center has acquired two of the surgical systems for surgeries, and the other for training. Additionally, Keesler’s Clinical Research Laboratory has set up a training facility, called the Institute for Defense Robotic Surgical Education, for surgeons to get robotic surgery credentials. The idea behind the training facility is to expand across the entire Defense Department. The training won’t be just for surgeons since nurses and technicians need robotic surgery training for their respective roles. (Source: Air Force Surgeon General 10/25/16) Gulf Coast Note: Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla., general surgeons and urologists began training, under agreements with West Florida Hospital, several years ago in the use of da Vinci robotic surgeries.