Dunedin Hospital's theatre block may be old but step into theatre nine and you are transported into the modern world of the latest in surgical technology.
Tomorrow the first patients will wheeled in to the new theatre to be operated on by surgeons assisted by a new pendant system and digital integration.
Southern District Health Board service manager critical care Michael Dodds said staff had been training in the theatre, which cost about $1.8 million, for the past week. It would be mainly used for orthopaedic and acute operations. Although the hospital's theatre block was old and in need of replacement, getting a new theatre could not wait, he said.
Theatre nine gave the hospital an additional 40 hours' operating time and meant two theatres were available for acute operations.
''Now, we won't have to drop elective surgery as we'll have two acute lists available every day.''
The pendant system enabled equipment to be hung from the ceiling, instead of sitting on trollies as it was in the other theatres.
One of the system's towers carried video, surgical, oxygen and suction equipment, and another anesthetic equipment and power plugs.
Another arm held two screens which, thanks to digital integration, enabled surgeons to see scans, laparoscopic surgery and any information they needed, more closely than before, he said.
All arms could be moved to where they were most needed.
In the ceiling was a set of the latest theatre LED lights and air conditioning.
A lack of power points in the old theatres had been resolved in the new one, new warming units for fluids and linen had been installed and storage was behind glass doors. The latest in operating tables had also been put in.
All this had been made possible by using an old storeroom and space from a waiting area, he said.
