The London Clinic has invested in the latest state-of-the-art da Vinci Xi Surgical System, as part of its plans to advance robotic surgery, particularly colorectal, and build a centre of excellence in robotics in the heart of London’s Harley Street.
The Xi model is the latest iteration of the da Vinci series, providing surgeons with an advanced set of instruments as well as an “intelligent” patient table, to use in performing robotic-assisted, minimally invasive surgery. The surgeon guides the robot remotely using a nearby console. The independent charitable hospital has now surpassed 10 successful colorectal cases on the new robot, which allows for incredibly precise surgery.
Speaking about the success of the recent procedures, Mr Manish Chand, a consultant colorectal surgeon and professor of surgery based at The London Clinic, commented: “The uptake of robotic surgery in certain fields has been slow within the private sector. Often, the robots have been limited to the field of urology; or there has been a lack of resources and training to perform robotic surgery. However, there are a great many benefits to robotic surgery, which we are keen on sharing with our patients. Patients should know that there is often an alternative in robotics and that it may be a better choice than traditional open forms of surgery, particularly for more complex procedures.
“For each of the cases we have performed since the installation of the Xi, including complex cancers as referrals from other centres or technically challenging re-do surgery, our patients have found robotic surgery to be hugely satisfying and comfortable. They have experienced little pain post-operatively, and have been able to go home quickly and safely when compared to other forms of surgery. We are also seeing a number of international patients enquiring for these procedures and recognising the expertise based at The London Clinic across many specialties.”
The London Clinic was the first private hospital in the UK to introduce robotics in 2005 and has since built a multi-disciplinary robotic centre. With the aim of advancing healthcare for the benefit of patients and the wider healthcare community, it is the only UK private hospital with three different robots: da Vinci Xi, Navio for orthopaedics, and AquaBeam for prostate resection. The London Clinic is set to further expand its robotic offering into other fields of medicine.
