Summerlin Hospital's surgery department provides an experienced staff and new tools and techniques for both inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures.

The department includes ten surgery suites, a recovery room, laser lithotripsy, a cysto suite and a self-contained endoscopy center. The unit has three additional surgical suites built and ready to be equipped as needed.

Special considerations were made for children undergoing surgical procedures, including a separate outpatient surgery waiting room with toys and rocking chairs to comfort children in the recovery area.

The hospital also offers online patient preregistration for scheduled surgical procedures.

The da Vinci® Surgical System may not perform surgery on its own, but it does enable surgeons to recreate the movement of their hands, wrists and fingers within a very confined space in the patient's body.

During these procedures, surgeons make small incisions to accommodate the robot's arms, which are equipped with a high-resolution camera and special surgical instruments. Doctors then sit at a console near the patient where they view magnified, three-dimensional images of the surgical site. Using master controls, they direct the movements they want the robotic arms to make inside the patient's body.  The da Vinci robot has a full range of motion and offers an added level of precision by filtering out normal hand tremors.

"Robotic systems are one of the most significant advances we've seen in medicine," said Robert Freymuller, CEO/Managing Director at Summerlin Hospital. "They allow surgeons to operate in real time and help to improve patient outcomes. Patient benefits typically include a shorter hospital stay, less pain, fewer complications after surgery and a quicker recovery."