National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) yesterday celebrated its 1,000th operation using the da Vinci robotic surgical system, which was introduced to the hospital in late 2011.
Department of Surgery director Lai Hong-shiee (賴鴻緒) said the 1,000th da Vinci surgery was carried out on Nov. 24 on an 81-year-old man, surnamed Wang (王), who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer six months ago after experiencing bloody and narrow stools.
“On the same day, we also used the robotic system to help remove a rectal tumor located just 6cm away from the anal verge of a 37-year-old woman, surnamed Chia (賈). She is a computer engineer who has a stressful job, often dines out and seldom consumes vegetables,” Lai told a press conference in Taipei.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Lai said that while the hospital was only the ninth one to purchase the sophisticated robotic platform, it has achieved three milestones in its application: It was the first medical institution in Taiwan to perform 1,000 da Vinci surgeries; it has carried out the most diverse types of operations using the system; and its da Vinci surgeries have the highest difficulty level on average when compared with those performed by other hospitals in the country.
The 1,000 operations covered: 229 general surgeries; 130 thoracic surgeries; 97 colorectal surgeries; 98 cardiac and vascular surgeries; 110 ear, nose and throat surgeries; 263 urological surgeries; and 73 gynecological surgeries, Lai said, adding that the hospital plans to purchase its second da Vinci system early next year.
As of August this year, a total of 22 medical facilities nationwide boasted a da Vinci surgical system, with the Tri-Service General Hospital being the first to acquire the machine in September 2004.
Singling out the most noteworthy case, Yang Tsung-lin (楊宗霖), an attending physician at NTUH’s Department of Otolaryngology and Head Neck Surgery, said that in 2012, he used da Vinci to remove a salivary gland tumor from a 30-year-old woman’s neck through a 5cm incision along the hairline behind her right ear.
“Unlike traditional surgery, which can only gain access to such a tumor through a direct opening on the neck, leaving behind a long visible scar shaped like a necklace, my surgical approach managed not only to take out the tumor, but also allowed the patient to maintain her pre-surgical appearance without any obvious scars,” Yang said.
Yang said the scar-free method, which was published in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in May, can be applied to the removal of almost all kinds of head and neck tumors, and has been performed on more than 100 patients at the hospital over the past two years.
However, as the difficulty of a surgery is inversely proportional to the size of the incision, the method can only be performed by well-trained doctors with abundant experience in operating the da Vinci system, Yang added.
Department of Surgery vice director Liang Jin-tung (梁金銅), who carried out the hospital’s 1,000th and 1,001st da Vinci operations, said that since the system is devoid of hand tremors, it is particularly ideal for the removal of colorectal tumors in patients who are obese or have a narrow pelvic cavity.
“Of course, the system also has its disadvantages, such as being large and heavy, and it does not give the operator a sense of touch,” Liang said.
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