It is expected to increase the HUB's robotic activity by 55%: from 450 robotic surgeries per year to 700. The new acquisition will boost the area of General and Digestive Surgery. Three new robotic programmes will be launched for this speciality.
Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) will be able to keep increasing its robotic activity, thanks to the addition of a third Da Vinci robot. The centre started its robotic surgery programme in 2009 with the first robot in the Catalan public health system. This latest-generation technology allows for maximum precision surgery with minimally invasive surgical interventions, which entail less pain and complications for the patient, reduce the average postoperative stay and increase patient safety.
The HUB performs approximately 450 robotic interventions each year in the two current robotic operating rooms for the Urology, Gynaecology, Thoracic Surgery, General Surgery and Otolaryngology Services. The incorporation of the third robot will make it possible to reach 700 interventions in the coming years for these five specialties. The HUB is the centre that performs the largest number of operations in Catalonia and Spain for these specialities.
Three new robotic surgical programmes will be added to the catalogue of the Bellvitge Hospital -liver surgery, biliopancreatic surgery and bariatric surgery- to boost the General and Digestive Surgery area, following scientific evidence of a greater benefit for patients thanks to robot-assisted procedures.
The HUB will also increase its robotic activity in Thoracic Surgery, Gynaecology and Otorhinolaryngology, specialisations in which the indications for robotics continue to increase.
All set for new robotics indications
The only two hospitals in Spain that currently have three Da Vinci robots are in Catalonia: Bellvitge University Hospital and Vall d'Hebron University Hospital.
The Da Vinci robot is the latest technology on the market and it makes possible to offer the best care to patients while attracting and retaining specialist talent. “Robotic surgery is experiencing a huge explosion worldwide, showing wide evidence of its benefits in terms of safety, agility and predictability, and having a direct impact on better health outcomes for the patient” according to Dr Álvaro Arcocha, Deputy Medical Director of the Surgical Process and Critical Care Area at the HUB.
Today, the Da Vinci robotic system is the most innovative platform for minimally invasive surgery. The surgeon does not operate directly on the patient, but they sit at a console from which they virtually use forceps, working with lenses of up to 15x magnification, with high-quality three-dimensional vision and high precision. The system translates the surgeon's movements into impulses that are transmitted to robotic arms, making it possible to reach areas that are difficult to access.
Thanks to the Da Vinci robot, the surgeon's physiological tremor or involuntary movements are eliminated, as well as postural fatigue after long hours of surgery.
This has a direct impact on the patient, as the size of the incisions is reduced, resulting in a shorter postoperative period. There is also less bleeding, less pain, less chance of complications and, ultimately, a greater return to daily life. The cost-effectiveness is high, as these advantages translate into better management of the use of hospital facilities and resources.
More than a decade of milestones in robotics at the HUB
The first robotic operating room at the HUB was launched in 2009, with the support of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). With the incorporation of the first Da Vinci robot, Bellvitge Hospital became one of the pioneering hospitals in robotic surgery in Spain.
This first robotic operating room was renovated in 2016 with a new state-of-the-art Da Vinci. In 2019, the HUB acquired a second robot, allowing to double the number of robotic interventions.
The robotic surgery programme began at the HUB in 2009 with a radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate). Since then, the experience accumulated over the years in Urology, Gynaecology, Thoracic Surgery, General Surgery and Otolaryngology has helped the HUB to support other Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) hospitals that have launched robotic surgery programmes, as well as other centres in Spain and Portugal.
In fact, the Bellvitge Hospital has been a pioneer in various robotic procedures at Catalan, national and international level. In 2020, the first orthotopic kidney transplant with robotic surgery performed worldwide by the centre; in 2021, the HUB performed the world's first single-incision robotic first-side surgery removal; and in 2022, the first robotic sex reassignment surgery was performed in Europe.
This leadership in robotic surgery has recently allowed Bellvitge Hospital to launch, together with the University of Barcelona and ABEX Robotic Excellence, the first chair in robotic surgery in Catalonia and the second in Spain, directed by thoracic surgeon Ricard Ramos. Teaching in this subspecialty will be reinforced at the new Centre for Advanced Medical and Surgical Simulation (SimHUB) that has just opened at the Bellvitge Hospital, where a specific robotic simulation area has been created.