For Release: June 2, 2011
Contact:
Jim Gosky 330.344.6083, jgosky@agmc.org
Amy Kilgore 330.344.6014, akilgore@agmc.org
A Breakthrough Robotic Heart Surgery at Akron General
For the first time at Akron General Medical Center – and in all of Northeast Ohio – a patient who needed a coronary artery bypass grafting procedure was able to benefit from an amazing new robotic surgical procedure that resulted in the patient going home from the hospital in only two days. Known as a Total Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass (TECAB) operation, the groundbreaking surgery was performed by Cardiothoracic Surgeon N.S. Laden, MS, MD, May 11 at Akron General Medical Center.
TECAB is the least invasive coronary artery bypass grafting operation in which the bypass graft is constructed via tiny portholes, whereas conventional coronary artery bypass surgery requires division of the sternal bone of the chest in order for the surgeon to gain access to perform the surgery. Utilizing the da Vinci® robotic system, Dr. Laden performed complex surgical maneuvers inside the patient’s chest through five very small, half-inch incisions. As a result, the surgical trauma and scarring for the patient was very minimal and the recovery time, greatly reduced.
In fact, the recovery time for Dr. Laden’s patient, 51-year-old Clifford Boone of Uniontown, was quite remarkable. Boone left the hospital two days after his surgery and attended Sunday church services two days after that. Had it not been raining incessantly lately, Boone said he felt as if he could have gone golfing that weekend.
"I feel great!" Boone exclaimed two days after the pioneering surgery. "Dr. Laden was fantastic, and the care I received at Akron General – from my cardiologist Dr. Mark Angel to the anesthesiologists and the operating room team and intensive care unit nurses – everyone was just exceptional."
Boone noted that his father died at a young age in May 1970; so earlier this spring when he started feeling some of the classic symptoms of heart disease, such as tightness in his chest and numbing in his arm, he knew something was not right. His endocrinologist (Boone is a diabetic), Dr. Toni King, ordered a stress test in April. A subsequent heart catheterization performed by Dr. Angel at Akron General confirmed the suspected diagnosis: Boone had 95 percent blockage in the main artery in the front of the heart, known as the left anterior descending coronary artery.
"This is truly a unique procedure for our area," said Dr. Laden. "TECAB offers many advantages over conventional bypass surgery, including decreased blood transfusion, less pain, lower risk of infection and a shorter hospital stay. In addition, patients can get back to normal activities of daily living much quicker, including returning to work much sooner."
"In my opinion," added Dr. Laden, "TECAB is definitely the procedure of choice."
As for Cliff Boone, he did, in fact, go golfing less than two weeks after his surgery. He shot an 84 for 18 holes. The next week, he was back to work.
Read more at Ohio.com
Akron General Health System is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with the mission of improving the health and lives of patients and the community. Akron General Health System includes: Akron General Medical Center, a 511-bed teaching and research medical center, and Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Institute, the area's largest provider of rehabilitation services; Akron General Partners, which includes Partners Physician Group, the Akron General Health & Wellness Centers, Lodi Community Hospital, Community Health Centers and other companies; Akron General Community Health Ventures, which includes Visiting Nurse Service and Affiliates, the largest and most comprehensive provider of home healthcare services in Ohio; and Akron General Development Foundation. Akron General has earned the prestigious National Research Corporation (NRC) Consumer Choice Award for 14 years. For more information about Akron General Health System, visit about Akron General.
