Surgeons have carried out the first robot-assisted surgery in the UK to help create a new breas
The team from the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) and Hillingdon Hospital in West London successfully completed the six-hour operation using the da Vinci robot to extract a blood vessel and surrounding tissue from 52-year-old Patricia Carroll’s abdomen to construct a new breast.
Using the robot instead of performing the surgery manually shortened the operation by three hours.
Last year, the surgeons successfully employed keyhole surgery for the first time in this type of reconstruction – DIEP flap surgery.
Typically, a 12cm incision is made in the patient’s abdominal wall to harvest the blood vessels for a ‘flap’ of tissue. Last year, the use of keyhole surgery meant only a 2cm incision was necessary, but surgeons have always regarded this as a step towards performing this part of the procedure robotically.
The robot provides greater control, resulting in significantly less injury to surrounding tissue. Ten times magnification also offers much higher precision, making the process safer.
This has been a collaborative effort between Dariush Nikkhah, a consultant plastic surgeon at the RFH, and Alistair Slessser, a consultant colorectal surgeon at Hillingdon.
For the procedure, they were joined virtually from the US by Jessie Selber, who pioneered the robotic technique.
Additionally, Royal Free London plastic surgeons Shadi Ghali and Stephen Hamilton, along with colorectal surgeons Reza Mirnezam and Ibnauf Suliman, were also present.
Mr Nikkhah said: ‘We’d been planning this for months, and it has brought a lot of joy to everyone involved – it’s all anyone in theatres can talk about since! I’m so proud of our medical and nursing teams. Minimal access surgery can reduce problems such as hernias and bulges, and will shorten inpatient stay. Patricia only stayed for three days, and I predict that one day patients will be able to go home the next day. I hope we will be able to carry out at least 10 more robotic surgery cases this year.’
Patient Patricia had a mastectomy in 2019 following a breast cancer diagnosis. She said: ‘I feel very lucky to have been part of this incredible surgery.’
