SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Shreveport hospital performs its first robotic heart bypass surgery.

Christus Highland Medical Center is celebrating its first robotic-assisted heart surgery using the Davinci XI Surgical System.

Last Thursday, medical teams specially trained in robotics completed a coronary artery single vessel bypass graft on a 68-year-old male patient. Doctors said it’s a common heart procedure but now less invasive.

“The robotic approach to this procedure minimizes the trauma for the surgery. So it’s a much smaller incision. It does not require an open chest so there’s a small incision made between the ribs in order to accomplish the procedure,” said Timothy Danish, M.D., Cardiovascular and Thoracic surgeon, Christus Highland Medical Center.

“It will be able to cut down on the healing process and allow these patients to get on their way and continue with their life. Having that performed on our campus was truly a landmark milestone for cardiac care in this region,” said Steen Trawick, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Christus Shreveport-Bossier Health System.

They say the patient is doing well.

The robotic technology provides 15 times more magnification than standard surgery which helps the surgeon see better.