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For more than 28 years, South Texas Health System Heart has been committed to providing innovative solutions to improve the overall patient experience beyond its cardiovascular services.

Equipped with a full-service emergency department that handles all types of trauma and critical care cases and a suite of operating rooms where surgeons perform general, cardiovascular and bariatric surgical procedures, STHS Heart is committed to providing quality, compassionate care to the people of the Rio Grande Valley, including minimally invasive procedures aimed at improving patient outcomes.

Last June, the facility expanded its services to include robot-assisted surgery, which provides surgeons with better visualization and leads to a more precise surgery.

Now, one year after launching its robotics program, STHS Heart is celebrating its latest milestone… the completion of its 200th robotic surgery using the da Vinci® Xi® Robotic Surgical System in late May 2024.

The da Vinci Xi is an advanced, computer-assisted surgical system designed to expand a surgeon’s capabilities beyond their eyes and hands, providing them with a highly magnified, high-resolution image of the operating field, better access to the area being operated on and a greater range of motion and dexterity.

The end result: less invasive procedures that typically result in fewer complications, less risk of infection, less blood loss and fewer blood transfusions, less pain, a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery times for patients.

Since acquiring the system, surgeons at STHS Heart have performed bariatric procedures such as sleeve gastrectomies and gastric bypasses, as well as general surgeries like hernia repairs, cholecystectomies and colon surgeries.

Performed by general surgeon Dr. Michael Martinez, the 200th robot-assisted surgery was a cholecystectomy, a common procedure to remove the gallbladder. Each year, about 1.2 million cholecystectomies are performed in the United States, per the National Library of Medicine.

The journey to the first 200 robotic surgeries began in the summer of 2023 when Dr. Ernesto Garza, MD, made history by performing the first minimally invasive procedure using the robotic system at STHS Heart.

The da Vinci Xi enables surgeons to operate on a patient via one or more small incisions, typically less than or equal to one centimeter long, as opposed to the large incisions that may be required in traditional surgery. Equipped with four thin robotic arms, which have a wider range of motion than the human hand, the system offers a magnified, 3D view of the surgical site.

“South Texas Health System Heart is proud to offer patients close-to-home advanced surgical options like the ones performed using the da Vinci Xi surgical system,” said Brenda Ivory, Chief Executive Officer, STHS Heart. “STHS Heart is committed to creating positive patient experiences and enhanced patient outcomes with innovative technology. Our robotic surgery program allows us to do that by getting our patients back to their everyday lives as quickly as possible.”

“The robotic program at STHS Heart serves as a testament that we’re dedicated to providing the highest level of quality, compassionate care to our patients.”

STHS Heart’s da Vinci Xi system is the third of its kind at South Texas Health System. In 2015, STHS Edinburg became the first medical facility south of San Antonio to use the da Vinci Xi system and later acquired its second da Vinci Xi in February 2021.

In May 2023, Dr. Sandra Esquivel, MD, performed her 1000th minimally invasive robotic surgery using the da Vinci Xi Surgical System at STHS Edinburg.