New Hybrid Operating Theatre Opens

21st Oct 2013

The Innovation Continues at Blackrock Clinic: New Hybrid Operating Theatre opens

This week our new €4.5m Hybrid Operating Theatre opened and Consultant Vascular Surgeons Mr Sean O’Neill and Mr Prakash Madhavan performed the first procedures within it.  An Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR) was performed and was very successful, with the patient up and about in the first 24 hours.

This patient had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is an enlarged area in the lower part of the aorta, the major blood vessel that supplies blood to the body.  A rupture can cause life-threatening bleeding.  AAA is known as a ‘silent killer’ because it can develop slowly and without symptoms and a ruptured aneurysm can kill without warning.

A patient who undergoes an EVAR rather than open surgery can anticipate their recovery time will be significantly reduced if not halved.

In addition, Angioplasties – where a patient’s blocked or narrowed arteries are opened using a catheter and a balloon – can be performed in this theatre with a much shorter recovery time.  Previously the alternative option of an open by–pass may not have been possible for many patients due to its 7+ day recovery time and the likelihood of additional discomfort from scarring and leg swelling.  By-passes also clock up a long recovery time of up to 3 months.  By comparison, a patient who has an angioplasty in the Hybrid Operating Theatre at Blackrock Clinic will be up and walking again the day after the procedure.

Blackrock Clinic is the first Independent hospital in Dublin to have built a Hybrid Operating Theatre.  This means that the imaging required to see and diagnose patients is within the operating theatre, allowing surgeons to perform both open and non-invasive (keyhole) surgery.  This is the first Hybrid Operating Theatre in Ireland to use new technology which reduces radiation dose to the patient by up to 80%.   This is a significant break-through for patient and staff safety.

€4.5m was invested in the Blackrock Clinic Hybrid Operating Theatre as part of a 7-year, €150m expansion project which brings the newest and most advanced technologies and techniques to patients.

This is a difficult market for healthcare and not many hospitals or medical institutions have the resources to innovate in the way that Blackrock Clinic has been able to.   We are happy to be in a position which allows us to bring more world-class, cutting-edge techniques, procedures and facilities to Irish patients which prolong or enhance the quality of life for many.