Wang was diagnosed with pancreatic lesions in April this year. The doctor told her that the special location of her tumor (in the relatively narrow tail of the pancreas) led to a higher requirement of surgical precision, a longer perioperative period, and increased postoperative complications. Considering Wang’s age, her children sought professional help painstakingly and learned that the pancreatic surgery department of Ruijin Hospital has rich experience in robotic surgery. Without hesitation, they reached out to Ruijin soon after they got the information.
In Wang's case, Professor Shen Baiyong's team, cooperating with the anesthesia team and postoperative rehabilitation team, formulated a meticulous plan for the surgery. On May 17, Professor Shen inserted the endoscope and three operating forceps through a small incision of only 2.7 cm. Precisely adjusting the angle, Shen smoothly dissected the peripancreatic adhesions and completed the operation successfully. There was hardly any bleeding during the operation.
Better than the traditional four-port da Vinci robotic surgical system, the single-port da Vinci robot (SP system for short) can integrate four operating arms including the camera. This improvement decreases the degree of trauma and the number of incisions. Based on this research and development, the bending operating forceps are more delicate than traditional instruments and are freer to move around.
This device is the latest Da Vinci Surgical System generation launched by Intuitive Surgical, a company in the United States. The System has not yet obtained a U.S. Food and Drug Administration license for pancreatic surgery in the United States. Professor Shen Baiyong at Pancreatic Surgery Department formerly served as the Chairman of the Society of Robotic Surgery. After nearly a year of preparation based on Ruijin-Hainan Hospital’s concept of “playing a leading and exploratory role”, Shen finally landed the first clinical study of multidisciplinary single-port robotic surgery in the real world in Boao, aiming to benefit patients better and faster.
"The single-port robotic surgery system will definitely be used in various surgical operations in the future," said Professor Shen Baiyong. He believes that more pancreatic operations will be performed in the future, bringing surgical operations with higher precision to the public for greater benefits.
After Wang’s surgery, Ruijin Hospital decided to provide surgical data involved to the US FDA to apply for a license for pancreatic surgery in the United States. Ruijin-Hainan Hospital plans to carry out operations on the rectum, gynecology, urology, galactophore, ophthalmology, and otorhinolaryngology to verify the application value of the single-port da Vinci robotic system. More importantly, patients benefiting from this technology will enjoy a higher quality of life.
