Applying Single-Port Robotic Surgery to Adrenal Surgery... "Surgery Time Reduced by Half"

Severance Hospital Professors Kang Sang-wook and Lee In-ah Team
Significant Reduction in Bleeding Volume... Shortened Hospital Stay
"Improved Surgical Outcomes Using Da Vinci SP"

Professors Kang Sang-wook and Lee In-ah, Department of Thyroid and Endocrine Surgery, Severance Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Domestic medical staff have reduced the adrenal gland surgery time by more than half compared to conventional robotic surgery through single-port robotic surgery.

The research team led by Professors Kang Sang-wook and Lee In-ah from the Department of Thyroid and Endocrine Surgery at Severance Hospital announced on the 5th that they demonstrated the effectiveness of adrenalectomy by reducing the surgery time by more than one hour using the single-port surgical robot 'da Vinci SP.'

The adrenal glands secrete steroids that have anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects, as well as adrenaline, which is involved in vasoconstriction and blood pressure elevation, regulating the body's metabolism and maintaining homeostasis. If cancer or tumors develop, abnormal hormone secretion due to dysfunction can cause metabolic diseases such as hypertension and obesity.

When tumors develop in the adrenal glands, which are located deep in the abdomen and have many tiny blood vessels passing through, the difficulty of surgery increases. Therefore, robotic surgery, which allows delicate movement of small robotic arms inside the body, is effective for adrenal gland surgery. Previously, surgeries were mainly performed using laparoscopy or the da Vinci Xi system, both of which required four or more incisions on the abdomen or back to insert surgical instruments and multiple robotic arms into the body.

Subsequently, the da Vinci SP, which enables minimally invasive surgery by inserting a robotic arm about 8mm in size through a single incision, was developed. Professor Kang performed the world's first adrenal gland surgery using the da Vinci SP in 2011. To prove the effectiveness of the da Vinci SP in adrenal gland surgery, the research team compared and evaluated adrenal surgeries of 8 patients who underwent surgery with the da Vinci SP and 11 patients who underwent surgery with the da Vinci Xi at Severance Hospital. As a result, they confirmed improved surgical outcomes, including reduced operation time, when using the da Vinci SP.

The average operation time for adrenal gland surgery using the da Vinci SP was 82.8 minutes, which is more than 50% shorter than the 172.6 minutes required for the da Vinci Xi. Blood loss was also reduced by 28.7 ml (da Vinci SP 7.1 ml, da Vinci Xi 35.8 ml), enabling faster recovery and shortening the hospital stay by more than 2.5 days.

The safety of robotic surgery was also secured. During robotic surgery, if there is insufficient space inside the body for the robotic arms to operate, the procedure may be converted to laparoscopic surgery. However, with the da Vinci SP robotic surgery, the robotic arms can be manipulated at various angles even in narrow spaces, and such cases have never occurred.

Professor Kang said, "Using the da Vinci SP for adrenal gland surgery, which is located deep inside the body, has greatly improved surgical outcomes," and added, "We will continue to do our best in developing surgical techniques using robotic surgery to take a step forward in conquering adrenal tumors."

The results of this study were published in the 'Annals of Surgical Oncology,' the official journal of the American Society of Surgical Oncology.