“Robotic surgery is most commonly used for hysterectomies, but can also be used for many other procedures including some cervical cancers and uterine fibroids,” said Peter Barton-Smith, chief, department of minimal invasive and robotic surgery, Singapore General Hospital.
According to Dr. Barton-Smith, for both the patient and the doctor, robotic surgery is more advantageous. “An average surgeon will be able to work at a much higher level, and a surgeon with good skills will be able to perform better,” he said.
Training to perform robotic surgery was much easier than keyhole surgery, he added.
“In the U.S., robotic surgery has overtaken regular minimal invasive surgeries for hysterectomies. Almost all other countries are far behind,” he said, adding that although the cost of a robotic surgery was higher, since it resulted in less time in hospital and fewer post-operative complications, it could be a better option for some.
In some cases, doctors will have to switch from minimally invasive surgery to regular open surgery midway through the procedure.
“With robotic surgeries, the chances of this are much lower,” Dr. Barton-Smith said.
On Wednesday, he demonstrated the procedure on a woman with severe endometriosis. He was assisted by Sumana Mohan, gynaecologist from Apollo Hospital and convenor of the ongoing All India Congress of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 2015.
