Recapturing Control: Robotics and the Shift from Medicalized to Biomedicalized Surgery

Abstract

Biomedicalization theory has proven itself a generative theoretical lens for examining the commodification of health and the associated constitution of new medical practices. A shift from the control over bodies to the technoscientific transformation of bodies is a major difference between the medicalization and biomedicalization eras. The case of robotic surgery provides an example of how the bodies of health care providers are being transformed while offering an opportunity to expand our understanding of the differences between these two eras. While new medical technologies can transform bodies and identities, they sometimes do so with an eye toward achieving the professional goals of the medicalization era. Ethnographic data regarding the da Vinci® Surgical System are used to elaborate these concepts. These were gathered through content analysis of marketing materials, interviews with surgical professionals, and participant-observation at a recruitment event for prospective da Vinci® surgeons. While patient-facing marketing materials alternately conflate and separate robotic surgery from the traditional, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) it is meant to replace, the participation of surgeons is obtained through the technology’s transformation of their bodily capabilities. The benefits for surgeons include increased control over laparoscopy and a reification of their place at the top of the surgical hierarchy.