Samsung Seoul Hospital Achieves 15,000 Robot-Assisted Surgeries

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Samsung Medical Center announced on the 9th that it held a ceremony to celebrate achieving 15,000 robotic surgeries.

Since the opening of the Cancer Hospital in 2008, Samsung Medical Center has introduced robotic surgery and has experienced rapid growth every year. After surpassing 1,000 cases in 2010, the number increased by more than 24% annually from 2014, reaching 5,000 cases in 2017. Subsequently, it reached 10,000 cases in 2020 and surpassed 15,000 cases last June, just two years later.

In particular, last year alone, about 2,700 robotic surgeries were performed, ranking 10th in the world. Among these, 1,700 cases were urologic cancers such as prostate cancer, ranking first in Korea and third worldwide.

Based on these achievements, this year, Intuitive Surgical, the manufacturer of robotic surgery systems, designated Samsung Medical Center as the first domestic ‘Epicenter’ in the field of urologic cancer. The Epicenter is a designation given by Intuitive Surgical only to hospitals and institutions worldwide that have outstanding robotic surgery facilities and capabilities.

Samsung Medical Center currently operates six robotic surgery devices and plans to add one more, bringing the total to seven, to accelerate the development of the robotic surgery field. Jeon Seong-su, head of the Robotic Surgery Center (Professor of Urology), said, “Robotic surgery, an advanced medical field, ultimately only has meaning if it produces the best outcomes for patients,” adding, “We will continue to strive to advance robotic surgery to provide better treatment to patients, as we have done so far.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.