Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Urology Department Achieves 3,000 Robot-Assisted Surgeries

Simultaneous Operation of Da Vinci Xi and SP
Providing Patient-Customized Care
Leading Minimally Invasive Surgery in Urological Diseases

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Department of Urology at Catholic University Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 15th that it has reached 3,000 cases of robotic surgery after recently performing robotic surgery for prostate cancer on a 67-year-old male patient.

The Department of Urology at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital began robotic prostate cancer surgery in 2009 using the second-generation da Vinci S robotic surgical system. Since then, they have incorporated robotic surgery for various urological diseases such as prostate cancer, kidney cancer, and bladder cancer using the fourth-generation da Vinci Xi in 2016 and 2018, and the fourth-generation da Vinci SP in 2021.

As of January this year, urology accounted for 37% of all robotic surgeries performed at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, recording the highest number of surgeries. Breaking down the 3,000 urology robotic surgeries by major diseases: prostate 1,671 cases (56%), kidney 943 cases (31%), bladder 259 cases (9%), and ureter 86 cases (3%).

The Department of Urology at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital operates both the da Vinci Xi and SP systems simultaneously, providing patients with the most specialized and customized care by considering the disease progression and surgical difficulty.

In particular, the latest da Vinci SP is actively used for single-port robotic surgeries such as prostatectomy, partial nephrectomy, and pyeloplasty. The da Vinci SP is a single-port platform designed to access deep and narrow surgical sites through a single 2.5 cm incision, allowing delicate performance of complex surgeries. It facilitates precise surgical procedures and results in less postoperative scarring and pain, leading to faster recovery and higher patient satisfaction.

Hong Seong-hoo, Director of the Urologic Cancer Center, stated, “The Department of Urology at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital achieved the first 1,000 cases of laparoscopic prostate cancer surgery in Korea in 2019 and has successfully performed various urological robotic surgeries, achieving remarkable results in the field of minimally invasive surgery.” He added, “As prostate cancer is rapidly increasing domestically and is expected to soon become the leading male cancer in incidence, we are continuously striving to provide the best medical care to patients by applying the latest robotic surgical systems to urologic cancer surgeries.”