Robotic surgery
Robotic instruments have tiny wrist joints which can move like a human hand allowing complex tasks like suturing to be performed in confined spaces and with greater precision.
Robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery

da Vinci Xi surgical system
Your surgeon in control
The term “robotic” often misleads people. Robots don’t perform surgery. Your surgeon performs the surgery with da Vinci by using instruments that they control via a console.
The da Vinci system translates your surgeon’s hand movements at the console in real time, bending and rotating the instruments while performing the procedure.
“Conventional laparoscopic instruments are straight which limits their range of movement. Robotic instruments have tiny wrist joints which can move like a human hand allowing complex tasks like suturing to be performed in confined spaces and with greater precision.”
The da Vinci System has 3 components:
- Surgeon Console: After docking the Surgeon sits at the console and has full control of 3 instruments and a high-definition 3D camera
- Patient Cart: Positioned alongside the bed, the patient cart has robotic arms that hold the camera and instruments which the Surgeon controls from the console
- Vision Cart: Communicates between the components and has the computer processor “brains” of the system
Advantages
- Stable camera compared to being held by a human arm
- 3D high-definition magnified view
- Endowrist instruments provide increased range of movements
- Improves Surgeons dexterity and precision whilst reducing tremor and fatigue
- Better access to confined spaces and parts of the body that are hard to reach
- Intelligent stapling senses tissue thickness and improves correct staple formation

Disadvantages
- Robotic surgery has increased equipment costs which may be passed on to patients by hospitals as they are not all covered by Health Funds
UPDATE (2024): At St John of God Hospital Murdoch there are no longer any additional Robotic consumable fees charged by the hospital for:
- All Robotic Cancer Surgery procedures
- Other Robotic procedures - Most Health funds are now covered (including HBF, Medibank Private, BUPA, AHSA Funds), Excludes (NIB/Honeysuckle Health funds)
This means most patients can now have Robotic surgery without any increased hospital costs compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery.
“For complex operations like Gastric Bypass some studies have shown reduced complication rates including leaks and bleeding.”
In summary
Robotic surgery is ideal for performing complex abdominal operations including:
- Single Anastomosis Duodenal switch (SIPS)
- Single Anastomosis Gastric Bypass
- Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass
- Total or Subtotal Gastrectomy
- Distal Pancreatectomy
- Revision surgery
- Hiatus Hernia surgery
- Abdominal Wall Hernia surgery
Surgeons performing Robotic Surgery: