Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Achieves 20,000 Robotic Surgeries, Proving Leadership in K-Medical Robotic Surgery

On May 11th, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, affiliated with the Catholic University of Korea, announced that it has achieved 20,000 robotic surgeries.

In 2022, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital recorded the shortest period in Korea to reach 10,000 robotic surgeries. The recent milestone of 20,000 cases is seen as evidence of the hospital's extensive clinical experience in high-difficulty surgeries and its patient-centered precision medicine capabilities.

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital has once again proven its status as a leading K-Medical hospital in robot surgery, surpassing domestic achievements by reaching 20,000 robot surgery cases. On the 11th, in front of the cathedral in the lobby on the first floor of the main building of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, hospital director Professor Lee Jiyeol, nursing director Kim Hyekyung, and other key officials, along with former head of the Robot Surgery Center Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor Kim Miran, gastrointestinal surgery Professor Song Gyo-young, and current Robot Surgery Center head Professor Hong Sunghoo, took a commemorative photo with several staff members. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital

Robotic surgery is a state-of-the-art, minimally invasive procedure performed by precisely controlling robotic arms. This technique reduces bleeding and pain and enables quicker recovery. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital has not only expanded traditional robotic surgeries, but has also actively adopted the latest single-port robotic surgery, which treats patients through a single incision. The hospital provides personalized treatment that comprehensively considers the stage of disease progression, the complexity of the surgery, and each patient's anatomical structure.

By medical department, robotic surgeries at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital were most frequently performed by the Department of Urology with 7,694 cases (38%), followed by Obstetrics and Gynecology with 6,166 cases (31%), Surgery with 5,572 cases (28%), Otolaryngology with 450 cases (3%), and Thoracic Surgery with 101 cases (1%). By major disease type, the breakdown is as follows: uterus 5,424 cases (27%), prostate 3,809 cases (19%), kidney 2,688 cases (13%), thyroid 1,806 cases (9%), hepatobiliary and pancreatic 1,696 cases (8%), colorectal 1,126 cases (6%), stomach 701 cases (4%), ovary 698 cases (3%), ureter and renal pelvis 571 cases (3%), bladder 439 cases (2%), head and neck 338 cases (2%), cooperative treatment 303 cases (2%), hernia 124 cases (1%), and other areas such as mediastinum, lung, esophagus, retroperitoneum, adrenal gland, heart, and breast 199 cases (1%).

The 20,000th surgery was a single-port robotic operation performed by Professor Kim Gwangsoon from the Department of Thyroid and Endocrine Surgery. This case is regarded as evidence that the hospital's robotic surgery expertise and capacity have been widely expanded across the field of surgery.

The patient was treated for primary aldosteronism after long-term follow-up care, receiving a single-port robotic retroperitoneal adrenalectomy. Primary aldosteronism is a condition where excessive secretion of aldosterone hormone from the adrenal glands, located above both kidneys, causes uncontrolled hypertension, hypokalemia, and electrolyte imbalance.

Professor Kim Gwangsoon, who performed the surgery, explained, "Traditional adrenalectomy involves an abdominal approach, but the retroperitoneal approach is a cutting-edge surgical technique that accesses the adrenal gland directly from the back, without touching intra-abdominal organs. As a result, there is no impact on abdominal organs after surgery, so fasting is unnecessary, pain is minimized, and recovery is much faster."

In fact, the operation took less than an hour, and the patient recovered quickly enough to be discharged the very next day. This contrasts with conventional laparoscopic surgery, which requires the injection of gas into the abdomen and manipulation of the intestines, often resulting in more pain and a longer recovery period and typically requiring about a week of hospitalization. After the surgery, the patient’s blood pressure stabilized rapidly, and going forward, the medical team plans to gradually reduce or discontinue the patient’s existing antihypertensive medications in cooperation with the internal medicine department, while monitoring improvements in electrolyte abnormalities.

On the same day, the hospital held a ceremony at the main building of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to commemorate the achievement of 20,000 robotic surgeries. The event was attended by Hospital Director Professor Lee Jiyeol, Nursing Department Head Kim Hyekyung, other key officials, former Robotic Surgery Center Head and Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor Kim Miran, Gastrointestinal Surgery Professor Song Gyoyoung, as well as current Robotic Surgery Center Head Professor Hong Sunghoo and many faculty and staff members.

Professor Hong Sunghoo, Head of the Robotic Surgery Center (Department of Urology), stated, "The figure of 20,000 is not just a statistic, but the accumulated result of the trust placed by 20,000 patients who underwent surgery at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital over the past 17 years, and the dedication of the medical staff to honor that trust. Based on differentiated surgical techniques and collaboration with various clinical departments, we will continue to expand the horizons of robotic surgery while investing in next-generation robotic systems to provide the best surgical environment for our patients."

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