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Mason Worlton

Mrs. Blattman

Biology 1010/1015

8 January 2020

Medical Robots Performing Surgery

In recent years technology and engineering has advanced to the point where robots are

being introduced into many different fields such as robots taking jobs in fast food establishments,

autopilots airplanes, even cars being able to drive themselves and robots being introduced into

the medical field. Robots in the medical field are being used to perform surgery and following

this many pros and cons have brought to attention, I will cover some pros and cons and also add

my opinion on robots performing surgery,

Let's first talk about some different pros to having medical robots performing surgery.

Some upsides given in “Pros and Cons of Robotic Surgery” is “there is usually less blood loss

for the patient, shorter hospital stays, a reduced dependence on postoperative pain medication

and reduced scarring” this is due to the robots making a very small incision that they enter into

the body through. With the help of robots the surgeries become a minimally invasive process. In

“Pros and Cons of Robotic-Assisted Surgery” it states that “​On average, patients who undergo

robotic cardiac surgery go home at least 2 to 5 days earlier than those who undergo conventional

open-heart surgery.​” using robots during surgery helps with the recovery time after the surgery.

Another pro is in “Pros and Cons of Robotic Surgery” it states “for surgeons, the procedures can

be less tiring. They don’t have to bend over an operation table-they can sit in front of a screen
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with a magnified, full color 3-D view of the surgical field. ” The introduction of robots allows

the surgerys to be less taxing on the surgeons throughout the duration of the surgery while doing

the same procedure.

Now let's talk about some cons for robots performing surgery. One such con is the cost of

the surgery as stated in “Pros and Cons of Robotic-Assisted Surgery” as follows “The robot itself

is expectedly very expensive with the cost of disposable supplies sending the cost of the

procedure even higher” many surgerys are already very expensive without the help of robots and

doing the surgery all by hand. Another con given by “Robots Making Move in Maryland’s

Medical Field.” where it says “Some of the tools rely more heavily on visual clues, while tactile

feedback can lag” when a computer or robot lags the instructions given take a long time to

process or be seen causing the surgeon or operator to over adjust and move too much which may

cause unwanted injury during the procedure.

In my own opinion, medical robots are a good idea and should be used more often to

perform surgery. I would feel safe with a robot performing the surgery on me if I had the option

since the robot is being instructed and guided by and actual surgeon. The scar I would receive

from this procedure would be alot smaller than the scar I would have if I was operated on by

hand. I would be cautious going into the program knowing that there isn't much emergency

precautions for robotic surgery since it is a fairly new procedure. I would trust the machine and

the man behind the machine to perform the surgery with very little incidents.
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References

- Nick Stern. “Robots Making Move in Maryland’s Medical Field.” ​Daily Record, The

(Baltimore, MD)​. ​EBSCOhost​, Accessed 18 Jan. 2020.

- Pre-Meds, Global. “Pros & Cons of Robotic-Assisted Surgery.” ​Meds​, 17 Sept. 2019,

www.globalpremeds.com/blog/2014/02/12/pros-cons-of-robotic-assisted-surgery/.

- “Pros and Cons of Robotic Surgery.” ​Functional Family Medicine​, 10 June 2018,

functionalfamilymedicine.net/pros-and-cons-of-robotic-surgery/.