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BROWNSVILLE — There’s a woman here who can still have kids.
Another woman is still alive after a life-saving hysterectomy.
These women have Dr. Rene Luna to thank for employing the Da Vinci Surgical System which uses state-of-the-art robotics technology. The system cuts down on recovery time and allows patients to return quickly to their daily activities.
Luna, a distinguished specialist in robotic surgical gynecology, has been using the Da Vinci at DHR Health Women’s Hospital in Edinburg for quite some time in all his procedures. Now he’s bringing it to DHR Health Hospital in Brownsville, offering better care to residents without requiring them to leave town.
And that’s why Luna was honored recently by former Texas State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., who presented him with a plaque and a state flag that was flown over the state capitol in Austin.
“It was such an honor,” Luna said of the Nov. 27 event.
“I have been fortunate to get a lot of awards,” Luna said. “I have been recognized as one of the top surgeons in Texas and in America, but to get that award, to get a flag that, I’ve always seen people get flags and honored with state representatives, national representatives, that was a first for me. I was extremely honored by that award. I was happy to meet him.”
The Brownsville hospital acquired the Da Vinci a couple of months ago but it hasn’t been used in as many cases as Luna would like. He plans to increase that use.
The Da Vinci system was developed by Intuitive Surgical in 1999. The system allows for a much less invasive procedure than previous surgical practices.
Luna explained he attaches the instrument to the patient.
“I take control of the system, I perform the surgery through the robot who is at the patient’s side,” Luna said. “The footprint is 8 mm in size and compare that to a dime which is 15 mm, so this is an extremely small incision.”
He places the instrument into the patient’s body, he said, and then I attach the robot to that. This is what he called the port.
“The robot attaches to the port, the instruments go inside the abdomen, and then I get behind the robot and I control it through there,” Luna said. “I’m in the same room next to the patient.”
A previous article in the Valley Morning Star described students from the Harlingen School of Health Profession attending a medical symposium at Harlingen Collegiate High School.
The student had used master controllers to make two arms on a monitor pick up glowing objects with an almost liquid movement, “yet with a precision most mysterious for its small detail.”
Luna related the current procedure with past practices.
“Let’s say 1,000 women need surgery,” he said. “Several years ago, 80% of them would have had C-section style cuts. So what that means is two or three days in the hospital, and a minimum of six weeks in recovery.”
The robot is radically different.
“The robot has allowed us to completely invert that number to where 80% of surgeries have been done with the robot,” he said. “The patient goes home the same day. She rests at home. She no longer has to stay in the hospital. They still need some caution over two weeks, but that’s two weeks they’re living life, out and about, they’re out with their families, their friends, church, doing life.”
Luna, the father of two sons, has used the Da Vinci for ten years. He has a board certification in Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has a board certificate focused in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery.
“I have developed an expert skill level that’s been recognized and I’m very proud of that, very happy, humbled and honored for that, because it carries over to my patients,” Luna said. “I want everyone of my patients to have the most advanced state of the art technology in my hands so that I can achieve their surgical treatment to the best world class we can offer in the world.”
