Robotic surgery is becoming increasingly utilised within surgical specialties including hepatobiliary and upper gastrointestinal surgery. It may not be appropriate for all operations, however for those in which it can be used, the surgery can be performed with small incisions (minimally invasively). This means patients have less pain, a faster recovery and are able to return home and to work earlier.

We use the da Vinci® Robot System which is the most developed and tested system available. It consists of a surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms, a high-performance vision system (3D camera) and miniaturised EndoWrist surgical instruments.

While performing the surgical procedure the surgeon will be seated at the da Vinci® console and is able to view a magnified, high-resolution 3D image of the operative field. The instruments used to perform the surgery are inserted through small ports in the skin and these instruments are controlled from the 3D surgical console.