Two leading London Clinic consultants, and early innovators of robotic surgery, have reflected on their pioneering experiences of robotic surgery –20 years from the first ever robotic-assisted surgery at The London Clinic in 2005.
Professor Prokar Dasgupta, a world-leading robotic urological surgeon who leads The London Clinic’s Robotic Centre of Excellence, said, “Robotic surgery was absolutely revolutionary, and The London Clinic was the first private independent hospital to bring robotic surgery to the UK.”
It was back in November 2005 that The London Clinic medics performed a prostate surgery procedure – a prostatectomy - using the Da Vinci robotic surgical system.
Explaining how prostate surgery was before robotic-assisted operations, Professor Dasgupta said, “We used to make a big cut into the lower part of the belly. There was a lot of bleeding, and we couldn’t clearly see anything. That’s how we used to take prostate glands with cancer in them out of the patient.”
Consultant anaesthetist Dr Peter Amoroso was part of the original medic team at The London Clinic to conduct the first robotic surgery – and travelled with a team of surgeons and a clinical nursing manager to the US to train on the Da Vinci robotic for prostatectomy.
Recalling the trip, he said, “We were so amazed by what we saw with this new technology whereby big incisions were not necessary, big blood loss not expected and rapid recovery the name of the game. Even before we had boarded the return flight home to London, we decided never to do an open surgery again, it was that dramatic.”
Today, robotic assisted surgery is far more commonplace. Data from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) states in 2024 100,500 robotic procedures took place. The leading procedure in the private sector was prostatectomy, but in the last few years, orthopedic joint replacement surgeries have become the most common robot assisted procedure.
The London Clinic now has four completely different robotic systems including the latest version of the Da Vinci, plus an orthopaedic robot, a spinal robot, and a high-pressure water jet robot for prostate surgery.
So, what can we expect in the next 20 years?
The two consultants believe as we adapt more to robotics, patients will benefit from faster procedures, fewer complications, less opiates, so quicker recovery.
Professor Dasgupta added, “It’s really good to reflect on the last 20 years of robotic surgery at The London Clinic. I think the next 20 years will be even more exciting – we have 3D printing, Digital Twins for even more personalised surgery, and surgical data science for looking at the entire operating room environment.
“Faster and more secure connections mean that we can now conduct tele-surgery, an interesting development as a result of new robots coming to the market, which was not possible for the last 20 years.”
