Robotically-assisted bypass surgery ‘can offer clinical benefits’

A new study has highlighted the potential of robotically-assisted coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery to offer meaningful benefits over traditional methods.

The research saw 300 patients undergoing robotically assisted CABG at three hospital sites in Canada using the da Vinci Surgical System. This consists of a console featuring a high-definition 3D image inside the patient's body, allowing the surgeon to control robotic arms equipped with surgical instruments.

There were no deaths in this group of patients, with only one patient developing a deep wound infection after the procedure. Moreover, the average hospital stay was cut from five or six days to four days.

Other benefits included a reduction in blood loss and cosmetic scarring, with most patients returning to near-normal levels of activity within a couple of weeks.

Cardiac surgeon and researcher Dr Richard Cook of the University of British Columbia said: "Robotically assisted CABG is a safe and feasible alternative approach to standard bypass surgery in properly selected patients. It is a less traumatic and less invasive approach than regular CABG."

CABG procedures are used to treat coronary heart disease, with around 20,000 of these procedures performed in England every year.