MISG news

Latest Robotic Prostatectomy Milestones

• KP WLA's robot was the first robot in the country to perform its first 50 cases in 45 days (source: Intuitive Surgical).
  
• KP WLA is the fastest growing single unit robot.
  
• KP WLA has now done over 600 robotic prostatectomies.
  

Presentations at the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons

At the 18th annual Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons held in Boston September 9-12, 2009, Dr. Dean Matsuda from the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Minimally Invasive Surgery Group presented two podium presentations. He first presented Hip Arthroscopic Surgery in the Athlete, showing the outpatient arthroscopic surgery recently performed on athletes like Kurt Warner and Alex Rodriguez for a condition called femoroacetabular impingement. This presentaion was followed by Minimally Invasive Surgery Group: Cutting Edge Goes a Cut Above which showcased the world-class surgery has been performed at the West Los Angeles medical center. Examples included but were in no way limited to high volume robotic prostate surgery, laparoscopic bariatric surgery, and advanced arthroscopic hip surgery. The background and experience of the first hospital-based Minimally Invasive Surgery Group (MISG) in California (founded January 2005) was presented. Dr. Matsuda emphasized a collegial approach with free sharing of multidisciplinary knowledge and techniques benefiting not only hospitals and surgeons, but the patients that they serve. Dr. Matsuda performed an independent electronic literature search of over 4600 published articles and found no published article such as this. As the first orthopedic surgeon to present at a conference filled with national and international urologic, gynecologic, and general surgical MIS surgeons, his closing remark that as MIS specialists we have a common bond that can break artificial specialty barriers was met with resounding applause.

AAOS Videos

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has recently accepted two of Dr. Dean Matsuda's surgical technique videos showing the latest innovations in the completely arthroscopic management of hip (femoroacetabular) impingement. The AAOS will be using his videos as a teaching resource for orthopedic surgeons worldwide and has included one of the DVDs into their new Resident Training Video Series. Dr. Matsuda has already shown excerpts of these videos at the Western Orthopedic Association 2008 annual meeting and will be speaking on this hot topic in January at the Orthopedics Today 2009 annual meeting. He is currently writing two articles for the Journal of Arthroscopy and is producing another AAOS teaching video on a new method of arthroscopic labral reconstruction (replacing a damaged labrum with a new substitute) which he developed on-site in our state-of-the-art OR at Kaiser WLA.

Robotic Surgery

Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center is proud to announce the launch of the Institute for Robotic Surgery and the addition of da Vinci Robotic Surgical System. Under the pilot project with this state-of-the art technology, Kaiser Permanente urologists are performing robot-assisted prostatectomies, a procedure to remove cancer cells from the prostate. Our surgeons sit at a console a few feet away from the patient and maneuver the robot’s highly flexible instruments through dime-size incisions, their hands never entering the patient’s body. The console’s 3-D monitor allows the physician to see the surgical field in high definition and at 10-times magnification. Research suggests that patients who undergo the robot-assisted surgery usually have less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, and slightly less post-surgical incontinence than the conventional operation.

West LA Minimally Invasive Surgery in the Spotlight

As an example of the truly cutting edge minimally invasive surgery offered at Kaiser West LA, one of our orthopedic surgeons performs an arthroscopic hip procedure currently performed by only a handful of surgeons worldwide. The alternative is an open hip dislocation procedure through a large incision.

A few noted articles follow. The first, by Voice of America News, was broadcast around the globe in 45 languages.

Voice of America
Minimally Invasive Surgery Offers Help for Athletes

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recently published this article written by Dr. Dean Matsuda in order to inform orthopedic surgeons worldwide about the innovative hip surgery that he performs on young athletic patients afflicted with hip impingement.

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Arthroscopic surgery for hip impingement: It works for me.

State of the art Hip Arthroscopy training

The Kaiser West Los Angeles Hip Arthroscopy program had it's first sports medicine fellows rotate through March 2008. Dr. Dean Matsuda personally taught Dr. David Downs and Dr. Christopher Ninh how to evaluate and manage athletes with hip pain. They are the first fellows of the newly established Kaiser Orange County Sports Medicine fellowship program.

Dr. Matsuda taught the fellows how to safely perform basic hip arthroscopic surgery. By the end of their rotation, he even had them participate in some very advanced arthroscopic hip procedures. They will be returning in July 2008 before they begin their own orthopedic practices. Dr Matsuda comments that "it was a wonderful experience for me to be able to teach such high caliber young surgeons." Dr. Brent Davis, head of the Kaiser OC fellowship program, and Dr. Matsuda are planning the incorporation of WLA's hip arthroscopy training into the OC program.

Opening of our Brand New O.R.'s in July 2007

Opening of our Brand New O.R.'s in July 2007. Our brand new state of the art operating rooms have opened in the new tower of the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center, July 2007. These operating rooms provide our surgeons and staff with advanced capabilities in communications with other operating rooms in and outside of our facility. Additionally, we have advanced imaging technologies and High Definition cameras and monitors in our new ORs. These new technologies give an advantage to our surgeons, increasing patient safety and accuracy of surgical procedures

Minimally Invasive Surgery Center featured KP Metro Messenger 

The minimally invasive surgery center at West Los Angeles was featured in the KP Metro Messenger Newsletter in an article titled:  “A Cut Above the Rest:  Minimally Invasive Surgery Center Opens at West L.A”.

A Cut Above the Rest
Minimally Invasive Surgery Center Opens at West LA

It’s one of the hottest topics in health care, but did you know Kaiser Permanente is an industry leader in minimally invasive surgeries? To better serve our members, West LA established a Minimally Invasive Surgery Center. The virtual center consists of many departments, including General Surgery, Urology, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Orthopedics.

“Our center is unique because it is one of the first comprehensive centers for minimally invasive surgery,” said Minimally Invasive Surgery Group Leader, Kirk Tamaddon, MD, Urology. “This provides us the opportunity to exchange techniques across fields to advance our techniques and patient care.”

Minimally invasive procedures are becoming popular with physicians and consumers because pain, scarring and recovery time are less than with traditional surgical procedures. The equipment used for these procedures reduces the physical strain on the surgical team, improving workplace safety.

Future plans for the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center include offering videoconference learning opportunities as well as purchasing additional equipment to expand the program. The operating rooms in West LA’s new hospital tower are designed to better incorporate minimally invasive procedures. Dr. Tamaddon and his colleagues also plan to continue their research on minimally invasive procedures to share with other medical centers.

Members of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center group include: (back from left) Dean Matsuda, MD; Rob Driscoll; Ronald Fienstein, MD; David Tse, MD; Tara Hill; (front from left) Adil Faroogi, MD; Kirk Tamaddon, MD; Seth Kivnick, MD; David Hahn; (not pictured) Charles Plehn, MD, and Howard Fullman, MD.

Grand Opening of Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center Minimally Invasive Surgery Center:
January 1st 2006

The Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center is proud to announce the opening of it's Minimally Invasive Surgery Center.  Our Center opened in January 2006 and is working hard to provide patients with state of the art advanced minimally invasive procedures.  Our surgeons’ expertise provides care in laparoscopic, endoscopic, thoracic, gynecologic, oncologic and arthroscopic surgeries.  Our dedicated team of doctors, nurses and operating room staff are committed to providing the newest, safest and least invasive approaches in treating conditions such as Prostate Cancer, Colon Cancer, Lung Cancer, gynecologic, hip and knee conditions.  For more information about these procedures ask your physician at Kaiser Permanente or browse our website.