On-demand robotics is a new technique for laparoscopic surgery. It has been used in Germany for the first time by the Department for Women’s Health and Gynecology at the University Hospital Tübingen.
Lausanne / Tübingen, 25 July, 2022: Distalmotion and the University Hospital Tübingen announced today the successful completion of gynecological surgeries using the Dexter® on-demand robotic surgery system. This marks the Swiss robot’s first clinical use in Germany.
Prof. Dr. med. Diethelm Wallwiener, Prof. Dr. med. Sara Brucker, Prof. Dr. med. Bernhard Krämer and their teams used the Dexter robot in several surgical procedures. Cases where the surgeons drew on robotic assistance from Dexter included the removal of an ovarian cyst (cyst extirpation), the removal of an ovarian tumor (adnexectomy) and the removal of a patient’s uterus (hysterectomy).
These surgical procedures have in common that they entail complex work steps where utmost precision and care are required.
When removing an ovarian tumor, for example, surgeons must take extreme care to avoid rupturing the tumor, yet also ensure all cancerous cells are removed, and all this must be achieved without damaging the surrounding healthy anatomy. In surgical jargon this sort of work step dealing with the delicate removal of adversely affected tissue is referred to as resection. Resection and other complex surgical work steps like dissection, happening around delicate areas of the anatomy such as the ureter or vessels, require the utmost accuracy and control. Robotic aid is a supplement in “keyhole surgery“ and a surgical robot is most useful for tasks like dissection and resection that require the highest degree of dexterity and precision. Prof. Wallwiener, Prof. Brucker and Prof. Krämer’s teams drew on the Dexter robot for these types of tasks.
The extent to which a surgical robot can contribute to optimizing procedure workflows and outcomes needs to be investigated further. To address this the team in Tübingen will carry out a clinical study in cooperation with Distalmotion, the developer and manufacturer of the Dexter robot.