Medical robot revolutionises cancer surgery
Lung cancer patients in the North East are benefiting from a new surgical technique being pioneered at a Newcastle hospital.
The Freeman Hospital is the first in the UK, and one of only a handful in the world, to use the Da Vinci Surgical Robot to perform thoracic surgery (surgery in the chest) for patients with small lung cancers.
The robot allows surgeons to carry out highly accurate keyhole surgery, where only very small cuts are made to the body. This means patients experience less pain, develop fewer complications and spend a shorter amount of time in hospital after surgery.
The 'minimally invasive' surgery that the robot provides, allows patients to recover more quickly after their operation, with some patients able to go home only two days after their surgery. Patients who need chemotherapy after surgery may also be able to start their therapy sooner and be better able to tolerate the treatment better.
Doctors at the Freeman Hospital have been evaluating the Da Vinci system for more than a year and have completed 15 surgical procedures using the robot.
Mr Sasha Stamenkovic, Consultant Thoracic Surgeon at the Freeman Hospital, said: "We believe that this is a safe way of operating and that patients benefit hugely from this type of surgery as they have far less, and sometimes no pain post operatively, in comparison to conventional surgical treatment.
"Keyhole surgery is becoming the norm for patients with small lung cancers and Newcastle Hospitals already carries out a large amount of minimally-invasive lung surgery. By developing services using the Da Vinci Robot, we are continuing our drive to improve the services we offer to our patients even further."
One patient who has benefited from surgery using the Da Vinci Robot is 77-year-old Sylvia Barnes from Gosforth. She had robotic lobectomy surgery (removing a lobe or section of the lung) last year.
Sylvia said: "I think like anybody, I didn't want to have an operation at first. I walk my grandson to school every day and didn't want to miss out on that!
"In the end, I felt lucky to have the robotic surgery as I think I recovered much better than the other ladies on the ward who had conventional operations. My recovery was so good that I was even walking my grandson to school just three weeks after the surgery."
The surgical team in Newcastle plans to carry out 50 major robotic-assisted lung operations this year and to continue to increase that number.