Robotic-Assisted Surgery

As a leading children’s hospital, we are constantly looking for ways to improve treatment. This can mean exploring innovative technology, researching new medications or updating surgical techniques. With the right technology and medical expertise, we can shorten hospital stays and increase the safety and effectiveness of surgical procedures. Robotics can help us do things that are impossible with traditional surgery. 

What is robotic-assisted surgery?

At Children’s Hospital Colorado, we use robots to assist our doctors and teams to provide minimally invasive surgeries across many specialties. As the leading hospital in the Rocky Mountain region performing robotic-assisted pediatric surgery, we can obtain the highest levels of surgical precision and safety.

Robotic-assisted surgery does not replace the surgeon, but instead provides our experienced surgeons with one more tool to help them perform successful surgeries. Currently, our surgeons use robotic-assisted surgery for both urologic and spine procedures.

Arlo, our da Vinci^® robot, is operated by our surgeons to give more accuracy and speed as his arms and vision can work in many ways that humans can’t. While Mazie, our Mazor X robot, assists with imported X-rays to ensure spine implants are placed as precisely as possible. See how Mazie and Arlo assist our teams.

Adding to our minimally invasive surgery program

Robotic-assisted surgery expands on traditional minimally invasive surgery by giving the surgeon more control, better precision and the ability to perform more complicated maneuvers. Our robots allow our surgeons to perform multiple functions with multiple instruments at once, while improving their view and accuracy with high-definition imaging. Using robotic-assisted surgery even enables our surgeons to perform surgeries that were thought to be too complex using traditional surgical techniques.

In addition, these surgeries are not only cost-effective and don’t increase expenses for patients but allow kids to heal faster and make surgery less painful. At Children’s Colorado, we aim to advance the use of robotics in pediatric surgery and demonstrate how it can lead to better outcomes for all children and families.

Advantages to using robotic-assisted surgery

Robotic-assisted surgery can help increase accuracy and precision, while reducing risk. Patients who undergo robotic-assisted surgery also benefit from:

• Greater consistency and precision
• Improved outcomes
• Improved overall experience
• Less time in the hospital
• Less pain and narcotic use
• Lower readmission and reoperation rates
• Smaller incisions and faster healing times

What to expect after robotic-assisted surgery

Your child’s care team will provide a detailed plan to make their recovery as smooth as possible.

• Pain control: Your child’s doctor will provide a pain management plan for you to follow at home. Your child may only need acetaminophen (such as Tylenol^®) or ibuprofen (such as Motrin^®) to control pain. In some cases, we may prescribe pain medicine for a short time.
• Eating and drinking: In most cases, your child can return to their regular diet after they’re discharged from the hospital.
• Activity: Your child should return to activities gradually. If your child is taking prescription pain medicine, keep them at home. Certain complex procedures require specific activity instructions and limitations. Your child's care team will provide these instructions to you.

Where to find robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery services

We currently offer robotic-assisted surgery at our Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Contact us to learn more

Contact us at 720-777-5084 to learn if your child’s procedure can be done using robotic-assisted surgery.