The Urology Hospital, in Pretoria, has celebrated 3 500 procedures done with its Da Vinci robot, having been the first hospital to acquire this surgical robot in South Africa in 2013.

The hospital recently acquired the latest Gen 4 X model in the Da Vinci robot range, replacing the Gen 3 predecessor.

Particularly, urologists and surgeons Dr Lance Coetzee, Dr Dirk Ligthelm and others use the robot to assist with prostatectomy surgeries, which has become a standard of care for patients undergoing prostate cancer-related surgery.

Ligthelm comments that robotic technology is constantly evolving and changing the face of prostate cancer treatment in South Africa. Particularly, the fourth generation Da Vinci robot, which is manufactured by US-based surgical equipment manufacturer Intuitive, provides improved magnification and greater precision during robotic prostatectomies and partial nephrectomies.

The robots allow for ease of work in smaller areas and are much less intrusive to patients, leaving them with a shorter recovery time compared with conventional open surgery, Coetzee tells Engineering News during a media tour of the machine.

He adds that robotic-assisted prostate surgery also reduces levels of post-operative side effects, such as incontinence and impotence, and ensures less blood loss and lowered risks of infection. 

The procedures done robotically at the urology hospital include cancerous prostate removals, cancerous kidney removals, reconstructive kidney surgery and pelvic organ prolapse treatment surgery.

Globally, more than 12-million procedures using the Da Vinci robots have been performed. More than 70 countries globally have embraced the minimally invasive Da Vinci systems.

The 900 kg fourth-generation Da Vinci robot comprises four arms, each able to move independently and with grape-peeling precision.

Medhold, which is the South African distributor for Intuitive, field service engineer Marie Steenkamp says there are two more Da Vinci robots operating at hospitals in Gauteng, two in Port Elizabeth and four in Cape Town.

The Da Vinci Robotic systems retail for between $1.5-million and $2-million depending on model. The Urology Hospital had purchased the X system for performing robotics-assisted surgery in line with international trends for best patient outcomes

Coetzee explains surgeons undergo rigorous training before performing operations with the Da Vinci robot.

Steenkamp explains the machine is able to detect potential faults or errors on its own, and warn the operator before the machine starts operating, or even during operations, without causing any harm to the patient.

The robots also have their own backup power supply for removal of the arms from a patient, should the main power supply, as well as the hospital’s backup power supply, fail to be available.

Coetzee and Steenkamp both hope that more surgeons will embrace this technology and have more hospitals perform these non-invasive procedures.