CBS4 AND PRESBYTERIAN/ST. LUKE'S MEDICAL CENTER & ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN AT P/SL TEAM UP FOR FIRST EVER "LIVE" TWITTER OF PEDIATRIC SURGERY
TUESDAY, APRIL 14th -- 11 A.M.
CBS4--KCNC-TV announced today that the station has teamed up with Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at P/SL to offer parents, physicians and people across the country a unique educational opportunity and the ability to interact directly with physicians during a "live "pediatric surgery that will take place Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 11 a.m. via Twitter.
"This is the first time any TV station in the world has worked with a hospital to provide the public with direct interaction during a major surgery," CBS4 News Director Tim Wieland said. "CBS4's Dr. Dave Hnida will be inside the operating room speaking directly to the public via Twitter as Dr. Steven Rothenberg performs gallbladder surgery on a child using a minimally invasive procedure. The child's parents, other physicians and people across the country can follow this surgery and ask questions of the doctor as the surgery is being performed."
Steven Rothenberg, MD, Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at P/SL will perform the gallbladder surgery on a seven-year-old girl using a minimally invasive procedure through a tiny incision in the belly button. Taking this approach creates a virtually incision free surgery, leaving no scars behind. Dr. Rothenberg is pioneering the procedure in children. He invented many of the new Minimally Invasive Surgical (MIS) techniques for children and has helped develop instruments now used by surgeons worldwide.
The parents of the 7-year-old patient, Sophie Flowers, Teresa and Kregg Flowers, will follow along and ask questions via Twitter from the waiting room.
"We are thankful for the opportunity to share our story," Teresa Flowers said. "My father was a general surgeon and he did gallbladder surgeries all the time. He would never have dreamed that one day gallbladder surgery on a child could be performed through the belly button." Teresa believes by allowing CBS4 to use Twitter technology, they will be able to help other families and educate parents and physicians on the possibilities of minimally invasive surgery.
While the possibilities continue to increase, Dr. Rothenberg says, "Any minimally invasive operation must produce technical results that are at least as good as the results of a standard open procedure-and must do so safely. In other words, since surgery is fundamentally a mechanical solution to a health problem, the manipulation and final state of the organs should be the same as that seen in a 'standard' procedure."
In addition to his role as Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at P/SL, Dr. Rothenberg is a Professor of Surgery at Columbia University; New York, New York. He is a world leader in the field of endoscopic surgery in infants and children and has led the way in pediatric minimally invasive techniques.
To follow this surgery, simply log on to
http://twitter.com/ and sign up to follow CBS4 Denver. For more information, visit
www.cbs4denver.com or
www.pslmc.com
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CBS4, KCNC-TV- Denver, is part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation.
Dr. Steven Rothenberg Performs Pediatric Gallbladder Surgery
Follow Along "live" via Twitter Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - 11 a.m.
Steven Rothenberg, MD, is the Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at P/SL and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University; New York, New York. He is a world leader in the field of endoscopic surgery in infants and children and has pioneered many of the procedures using minimally invasive techniques.
Dr. Rothenberg completed medical school and general surgery residency at the University of Colorado in Denver. He then spent a year in England doing a fellowship in General Thoracic Surgery prior to returning to the states where he completed a two year Pediatric Surgery fellowship at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. He returned to Colorado in 1992 where he has been in private practice for the last 17 years.
Dr. Rothenberg was one of the founding members of the International Pediatric Endosurgical Group (IPEG) and is it's recent past-president. He is also the Chair of the Pediatric Committee and on the Board of Directors for SAGES (The Society of American Gastro-intestinal Endoscopic Surgeons). He has authored over 100 publications on minimally invasive surgery in children and has given over 200 lectures on the subject nationally and internationally. He is also an editor for Pediatric Endosurgery and Innovative Techniques.
Dr. Rothenberg invented many of the new Minimally Invasive Surgical (MIS) techniques and has helped develop instruments now used by surgeons worldwide. He is referred to as a "pioneer" for his work in minimally invasive surgery in children which began in the 1990's. He performed the world's first MIS repair of tracheo-esophageal fistula and duodenal atresia in newborns.
Dr. Rothenberg believes that any minimally invasive operation must produce technical results that are at least as good as the results of a standard open procedure-and must do so safely. In other words, since surgery is fundamentally a mechanical solution to a health problem, the manipulation and final state of the organs should be the same as that seen in a "standard" procedure.
MIS is sometimes called laparoscopy, thoracoscopy, arthroscopy, minimal access surgery, keyhole surgery, or even "band-aid surgery". But these terms all refer parts of the larger field of minimally invasive surgery. More than a set of techniques or a "kit" of fancy equipment, MIS is a philosophy that aims to minimize the physiologic "costs" of an operation (like pain, deformity, stress response, and disability), while improving surgical precision. Minimally invasive surgery is not technology; it is technique.