Robotic-assisted surgeries has treated more than 200,000 patients worldwide. Now, the country’s first Da Vinci robot stands at TMC.

Life and work in the 21st century calls for precision and stamina. There is no room for mistakes on working environments like outer space facilities, industrial laboratories, nor medical institutions. Simultaneously, man needs to keep up with time.  That is why robots, mechanical devices that can be programmed to do work, have been assisting humans to maintain the stability of such delicate environments.

In medicine, the use of robots in performing surgeries has been embraced by hospitals worldwide. For years Filipino surgeons have been taking efforts to keep up with the new technology and last June 2010 their dream became a reality—the first robotic surgery in the country was performed in one of the operating rooms of The Medical City (TMC).

“I became acquainted with robotic systems as early as 2005 and have been looking for opportunities so that the hospital can get a robot for our country,” says Dr. Jason Letran, renowned urologist and one of the surgeons who performed the first robotic assisted surgery. He further explains that with the robot, the hospital can offer more options to patients whether to go for a traditional open surgery, laparoscopic or the robotic assisted surgery.

When and how does it work? 

Doctors began performing robotic assisted surgeries in the U.S. in 1985 when a robotic surgical arm called PUMA 560 was used in a delicate biopsy. It was then followed by the first laparoscopic procedure involving robotic techniques in 1987.  In the '90s, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the first surgical robot in America, the AESOP. 

TMC surgeons meanwhile are using the much advanced Da Vinci system robot.  It is a robotic arm which is connected and controlled through a viewing console. “The surgeon performs the procedure by manipulating the robotic arm as he looks at the operative field from the viewing console,” describes Dr. Letran who did intensive training with robotic systems abroad.

Moreover, the arm is equipped with instruments that can perform complex medical procedures, something that is beyond the capability of  human hands, thus, making the Da Vinci robot the first choice in the U.S. when it comes to operating patients with prostate cancer.  Also, the robot can perform other procedures like laparoscopy, urinary  bladder surgery, colorectal cancer surgery and reconstructive chemo surgeries.

Advantages of robotic surgery

With robotic surgery, patients recover faster as compared to the traditional open surgery.  “The patient is already walking the next day after the first robot-assisted operation,” says Dr. Letran.  He further reveals that that same patient was discharged after a week whereas in traditional open surgery, it takes 10 days to two weeks before the patient can fully recover. 

He likewise explains that one of the main advantages of the robot is that it can make smaller incisions, just less than a centimeter in diameter.  With smaller incisions, there will be minimal blood loss and the patient will feel less pain after the operation. This surely results to faster recovery and shorter hospital stay.

Dr. Letran further says that another advantage is the shorter catheterization time. In the traditional surgery, it takes 10 days or more before the catheter can be removed, which brings a lot of discomfort to the patient; whereas in robotic surgery, patients recover faster therefore shortening downtime.

Even cardiologist Eugenio Jose Ramos who was present during the first robotic assisted operation admitted that: “The difference is so big that you will never think of making the patients go into traditional surgery anymore.”

Meanwhile, some patients might be intimidated or alienated with such futuristic devices. Yet, according to Dr. Jose Vicente Prodigalidad this is not the case since it is the surgeon who still controls the procedure.  Moreover, Dr. Manuel Francisco T. Roxas, TMC’s Director of Cancer Program explains that the machine is equipped with a fail-safe mechanism—the robot will stop working if the operating surgeon takes his eyes off the eye piece of the monitoring console.  

“Doctors and nurses will be present...while surgeons who will do the procedure are experts in their field and are well trained in the mechanisms of the machine. The robot is just an added device. Our main intention here is to cure patients with or without robotic surgery,” concludes Dr. Letran.