Robotic surgery is on the rise in New Zealand, with surgeries performed without a human hand laid on the patient thanks to a four-armed robot.
One robot in Wellington was on track to perform 300 procedures this yea, including prostate removals, hysterectomies, and knee replacements.
Wakefield Hospital surgeon Rodd Studd said it had changed the game with “more precision” and “smaller cuts” in open surgery.
“That leads to a faster recovery for patients, less pain, less bleeding.”
The machine in Wellington’s Wakefield Hospital has tripled its procedures in two years.
The robot could rotate tools 360 degrees — something a human wrist couldn’t do.
Studd explained that the robot was guided “with a combination of pedals and hand controls”, allowing surgeries to take place with the surgeon on the other end of the room.
Robotic surgeries have been done in New Zealand for nearly 20 years, but some patients still had misgivings.
Prostatectomy patient James Wilcox said he had second thoughts when he went into surgery and “saw this big robot looming there”.
“I kind of had this idea of what if the robot gets a mind of its own and starts trying to rip me to shreds.”
However, Wilcox said the use of the robot led to a swift recovery and he felt “very, very lucky”.
Of the eight robots across New Zealand, one has recently done its 800th procedure, and benefits included faster recovery and shorter hospital stays.
Health New Zealand said there was more certainty that robots improved outcomes for surgeries such as prostate removal, but evidence varied in other procedures.
However, most of the robots were in private hospitals, creating a cost barrier in the public sector.
The level of staff training needed, and the high costs, also remained hurdles for use in the public sector, Health New Zealand said.
General surgeon Sanket Srinivasa said that “thankfully, that’s changing”, with his hospital having one in the public system.
The cost of operating the robot could cost millions, but it was offset by “the financial advantages of people recovering earlier,” said Srinivasa.
Surgeons expect its use will only increase, with Studd saying that in “10 years’ time at least most, at least urologists, will be proficient in it”.
