Robot-Assisted Lung Biopsy in Louisville, KY

Robot-Assisted Lung Biopsy Healthtalk Transcript:

Angela Mahan, MD, Thoracic Surgery
Baptist Health Louisville
Salim Srouji, Prospect, Kentucky

Salim Srouji:
My primary care physician sent me for a calcium score because of my blood pressure and they found a nodule. He immediately contacted me and said, "You need to go to the lung clinic." I went to see Dr. Mahan here at Baptist [Health] hospital.

Angela Mahan, MD:
When I saw him in the clinic, we had this brand new technology called ion robotic bronchoscopy, and I thought he'd be a great candidate based on the location of his tumor and size of his tumor. Ion robotic bronchoscopy is a technology that allows us to get a definitive diagnosis for lung nodules and lung masses with less complications and higher diagnostic yields than more traditional methods. I can access the majority of places inside the lung from the trachea, and we're able to navigate to any area in the lung or any nodule in the lung to get a diagnosis.

We can use the bronchoscopy to inject some dye into the nodule that will then show up for the da Vinci robot [procedure]. We can see where the nodule is with the dye while we're doing the robotic procedure.

Salim Srouji:
Three weeks later, I was taken in for surgery, and Dr. Mahan removed the upper left lobe in my lung. It was a great surgery. I was able to play golf the afternoon of my two-week post-op, and I'm cancer-free still.

Angela Mahan, MD:
We are able to get patients answers faster, more accurately, and with less complications.