Four-armed robot performs major surgery in Britain for first time

The £2million Da Vinci Xi robot has been used to operate on a patient who needed to undergo major cancer surgery, involving a full pelvic extraction.

The eight hour procedure, which usually necessitates at least one surgeon and three assistants, involved two surgeons who controlled the robot from consoles several feet away.

Shahnawaz Rasheed, a colorectal specialist who performed the procedure at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, said “I’ve done this operation hundreds of times and the robot is going to end up making it much easier and better for the patient.”

A further new robotic system, the Versius, which was developed by scientists at Cambridge University, carries out keyhole surgery and is anticipated to be used within the NHS from next year.

The machine’s fully-rotating wrists allow a greater range of movement than humans and it is thought to reduce errors that can cause patients pain and slow down their recovery.

The robot is smaller than the da Vinci, weighing around a third of the weight of its counter-part, and its smaller size allows surgeons more room to work around it, also making it easier to set up and transport within hospitals.

Manufacturers also anticipate it to also be more cost effective than the da Vinci.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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