New operating room at St. Boniface hospital to decrease some patient stays

The first endovascular hybrid operating room in Manitoba is up and running.

A bright, 900-square-foot room is now the largest operating room in St. Boniface Hospital. Inside, the massive room boasts new tech, meant to help improve vascular surgeries.

“I’ve been dreaming of this ever since I came here,” vascular surgery lead Dr. Randy Guzman said in an interview with CTV News.

Vascular surgeries will be done in the new room - including procedures for aneurysms needing grafts. St. Boniface Hospital performed 445 vascular surgeries last year.

He says the hospital’s first endovascular surgery was in December 1998. Now, 24 years later, the hospital’s vascular staff have gotten a $6.5 million upgrade.

“The machine is designed so the patient stays stable and you can actually flip the tube around and around.”

The doctor says the new generation of technology packed in the new OR will see improved imaging quality, increased surgical precision, and reduced radiation.

The regional vascular lead can now switch between open surgery and the new endoscopic imaging for a less invasive procedure without moving rooms.

And it’s already in use. The first procedure in the room was on December 13.

“The imaging is just amazing. It’s a completely different experience. You can see the tiny little marks where we are kind of orientating the graft.”

He says the new tools for the endoscopic procedure will cut hospital stays down from seven days down to one night.

Karen Fowler, the president and CEO of St. Boniface Hospital Foundation says the room was paid for thanks to the foundation and its donors.

“Surgeons like Dr. Guzman will have the most sophisticated equipment available at their fingertips. And that will make the best possible patient outcomes possible,” Fowler said.

Dr. Guzman expects the new setup has roughly a ten-year lifespan before medical technology changes.