LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Technology is changing the way surgeries are being done across the state. At Baptist Health, doctors are now using a robot for soft tissue surgeries including general, colorectal, thoracic and more. They just passed more than 15,000 surgeries using the technology.

Surgeons at Baptist Health in Little Rock are getting prepped before a procedure, but now there’s a new tool in the operating room.

“I use it for hysterectomies, myomectomies, endometriosis surgeries,” Baptist Health Gynecologist Dr. Julie Goodwin said.

It is called the Da Vinci Surgical System. It’s a robot Dr. Goodwin said has drastically improved surgeries.

“It’s 3-D vision so it’s high-definition vision so I can see so much better and it’s even magnified up to ten times so it’s like I am truly inside their abdomen looking like right there,” Dr. Goodwin said.

From the surgeon to the patient, this technology cuts down on operating time and is minimally invasive.

“We’re talking about small incisions versus a much larger incision,” Dr. Goodwin said. “Because they’re not immobile, they’re not laying flat for longer, it reduces their infection rates, it reduces their long-term complication rates.”

Teresa Rogers recently had a hysterectomy using the robot.

“I’ve known I’ve had fibroids for about 15 years,” Rogers said. “They caused unusually long periods, heavy bleeding.”

While she was unsure about it at first, she says a traditional surgery was just not an option.

“It was scary because I pictured something totally different than what it really was,” Rogers said. “Being a mom and working, I did not want to have to go through that long recovery process at all.”

Immediately after the operation she noticed a difference and was released that same day.

“I felt better leaving the hospital than I did coming in,” Rogers said.

The recovery time was pretty short too. She was back up and moving in a couple of days.

“I feel like a new person,” Rogers said. “I definitely feel like a new person. I wish I would’ve done it sooner.”

Dr. Goodwin says she can do more complicated cases this way. She also says while robotics can sound scary, the robot is just a tool controlled by a surgeon.