Children's will unveil the new center at a ribbon-cutting ceremony
at 3 p.m. Saturday.
"It's the only such facility at a free-standing children's hospital
in North America," said Philip Glick, Children's surgeon-in-chief, professor
and chair of the Department of Surgery at UB and executive director
of the center.
"We can do the most cutting-edge surgery, teaching, training and research,
both basic science and R & D right here."
The center will be linked via fiber optics to a new Miniature Access
Surgery Teaching, Training and Research (MASTTAR) Center in the Biomedical
Research Building on the South Campus, where students ranging from those
in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to surgical fellows
will be able to view and practice current techniques, develop new procedures
and test new instruments.
The $900,000 teaching center is a component of the university's bioinformatics
research program and is being supported by UB.
"Almost everything you can do with open access you can do with miniature
access," Glick said. Children's chose the term "miniature access" rather
than "minimally invasive" because it seemed more appropriate for its
diminutive patients. "Many of these operations were created or modified
here."
One such operation Glick and colleagues developed corrects a congenital
disorder of infancy or early childhood called Hirschsprung's disease.
In this condition, the bowel doesn't function properly, resulting in
a dilated, thickened bowel and severe constipation.
Using miniature access techniques, Glick and colleagues compressed
surgery that formerly had to be done in two-to-three stages—each
requiring three-to-five days of hospitalization—into one operating
day, plus one pre- and post-surgical day. The innovation eliminates
the need for a colostomy and dramatically reduces pain, suffering, scarring,
hospital stays and recovery time.
The charge to restructure its approach to pediatric surgery at Children's
was led by Glick and his faculty. Inspired by results he observed and
began using in the early 1990s, Glick lobbied for a fully committed
miniature access surgery program at Children's.
"It took about five years for the entire surgical staff to decide to
convert to miniature access techniques," Glick said. "We envisioned
the concept of our MASC and its teaching component two years ago. It
took 18 months to create the dream."
Minimally invasive surgery is the antithesis of the traditional "open
access" approach in which a surgeon works on the patient through an
incision in the body large enough to accommodate human hands wielding
scalpels, suction tubes or other instruments. A large, open wound brings
with it collateral tissue damage, risk of infection, pain and a lengthy
recovery, in addition to permanent, often prominent scars.
The ability to perform surgery through small "ports" became possible
with the invention of the endoscope, meaning literally "to view within."
An endoscope is a rigid or flexible tube a few centimeters in diameter
equipped minimally with a miniature light and camera at its end. Ports
inserted strategically through small incisions allow tiny instruments
to be introduced into the surgical site, enabling the surgeon to perform
almost any task.
Endoscopic surgery for adult conditions has been practiced since the
late 1980s, but it rarely was used in babies and children.
Operations performed here can be telecast to any site in the world
equipped for teleconferencing. Glick foresees his team conducting clinics
in miniature access surgery for physicians, students, residents, nurses
and technicians. They also will be able to assist at surgeries being
conducted at any site equipped to transmit real-time video to the MASC.
The center will attract many patients and surgical fellows to Buffalo,
Glick predicts.
Marc Levitt, UB assistant professor of surgery and pediatrics, will
be medical director of both the MASC and MASTTAR.
The MASC was made possible by grants from the Children's Hospital Foundation,
Striker Communications Corp., Ethicon Endo-surgery Inc., Steris Corp.
and Berchtold Corp.
