Pediatric Thoracic Robotic Surgery

The da Vinci surgical robot excels in many procedures inside the chest when compared to more traditional thoracoscopic procedures. The robotic articulations are particularly useful for navigating around difficult rigid anatomy such as mediastinal masses thereby. Areas that are difficult to reach with nonarticulating thoracoscopic instruments such as the foramen of Bochdalek are also more easily approached with the articulating arms of the robot. We anticipate that robotic surgery will eventually prove to be superior to the thoracoscopic approach but the current instrument selections and diameter are limiting our progress. However, we believe that robotic surgery will eventually prevail as technology improves.