USC urologists take robot to next level in thrombectomy - VIDEO

Dr. GillUrologists at the University of Southern California’s Institute of Urology in Los Angeles are taking robotic kidney surgery to a new level. Inderbir S. Gill, MD, MCh, executive director of the USC Institute of Urology, has pioneered the use of the robot in patients with complex (level III) inferior vena cava thrombi.

In a recent case, transmitted live to the 2014 Clinical Society of Genitourinary Surgeons annual meeting, a 67-year-old patient underwent resection of a level III thrombus. The surgery was performed robotically using the da Vinci Xi system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA). Further complicating the case, the patient also had a second tumor-a large left paraspinal mass invading the spinal canal at the level of T10.

The patient’s case marks the sixth level III IVC thrombectomy performed robotically by the USC team. The below video shows the surgery’s critical step, with commentary by Dr. Gill.

“Typically, for level III vena cava thrombi, it is an open surgical procedure,” Dr. Gill said. “It is not done robotically by any team. Our team is the first in the world to develop this technique.

“Major cancer surgery within the abdomen, which until now was basically the purview of open surgery, is now actually entering the realm of robotic surgery,” he added.

In the most recent case, blood loss was 150 cc. The patient was discharged 5 days after the thrombus surgery, but the following week he underwent major surgery to remove the spinal tumor. The discharge 5 days after the initial surgery enabled the patient to prepare faster for the second, more complex surgery, USC officials said.

Dr. Gill is a consultant/adviser to Hansen Medical, EDAP, and Mimic Technologies.

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