Dr. Louis Matherne IV has performed his 1,000th robotic surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital-North in Lutz.

Matherne Performs Wide Range of Robotic Procedures

Matherne, a general surgeon at the BayCare Health System hospital on Van Dyke Road, uses robotic technology for procedures on the gallbladder, appendix, colon, small bowel and hernias, The Laker/Lutz News reported.

How the da Vinci System Works

The system lets a surgeon control mechanical arms and instruments from a console with a 3-D screen. The arms mirror the surgeon's movements in real time with a wider range of motion than a human wrist. For patients, the technology can mean smaller incisions, faster recoveries, shorter hospital stays and the possibility of outpatient procedures.

Robotic Surgery Program Has Grown Since 2020

St. Joseph's Hospital-North has expanded its da Vinci robotic surgery program over several years. In 2020, 13 surgeons were performing robotic procedures at the Lutz campus, and the hospital had logged 263 robotic surgeries in 2019, according to a BayCare newsroom release at the time. Current figures were not available.