Colorectal surgeon Eric Haas, MD, reconstructed an ulcerative colitis patient's colon using the da Vinci Xi surgical robot at Houston Methodist Hospital April 16, TMC News reports.
Here are three things to know.
1. Dr. Haas is the chief of the division of colon and rectal surgery at Houston Methodist. He also serves as the head of the Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Texas Dell Medical School in Austin.
2. Dr. Haas first performed the "J pouch" surgery to reroute the patient's intestines in January, removing the entire colon and rectum through a 1.5-inch incision in the navel, creating a J-shaped pouch using the last few inches of the small intestine and attaching that to the top of the anal canal. On April 16, Dr. Haas reattached both ends of the bowel.
3. According to Dr. Haas, the surgery effectively "cures" ulcerative colitis.
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