Kevin Kiene noticed an unusual bulge in his lower abdomen in the fall of 2024. He went to an urgent care facility, where two doctors told him (and later, his primary care physician confirmed) that he had an inguinal hernia. A hernia occurs when tissue protrudes through a weak spot in the abdominal wall, and inguinal refers to hernias in the groin area.
Fortunately, Kevin wasn’t experiencing pain or discomfort, but he didn’t want to wait too long to repair the hernia. His primary care physician recommended Dr. Omar Bellorin-Marin, the Medical Director of GI Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery as well as the Medical Director of Robotic Surgery at Holy Name. Kevin immediately felt comfortable with Dr. Bellorin-Marin when they met and scheduled his surgery for Dec. 12, 2024.
Dr. Bellorin-Marin performed Kevin’s surgery using the brand new da Vinci 5 robotic surgery system, which was released in 2024. He has used this robotic platform to perform over 1,400 robotic surgeries and has seen how the technology has progressed over the years. The new model is more user-friendly for surgeons, resulting in more meticulous procedures that take less time than robotic surgeries of the past.
The da Vinci 5 robot enhances the surgeon’s autonomy, providing greater precision and minimizing tissue trauma. This results in reduced bleeding, inflammation, and pain, ultimately leading to a faster and smoother recovery.
Kevin had minimal pain after surgery and was able to go home the same day. Though he took pain medication as a preventative measure that first day, he didn’t need any more after that.
With his six week recovery period almost complete at the time of this interview, Kevin was feeling great and said he would "absolutely" recommend Dr. Bellorin-Marin.
"It was clear [Dr. Bellorin-Marin] was very confident and competent," he said. "It was, all in all, a very nice experience."
