Embracing the future: the necessity of implementing robotic surgery in South African training institutions

Abstract

In 1990, the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy in South Africa, and possibly in Africa, was performed by Professor Bornman at Groote Schuur Hospital.¹ In 2018 in this journal, the first series in the country of laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer was published.² In the latter case, we have witnessed the improved recovery of patients who had laparoscopic over those who had open surgery, particularly when combined with an enhanced recovery after surgery programme (ERAS). Surgical innovation has powered the expansion of surgical minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The central goals of the efficacy of MIS are patient outcomes based with the aim of enhancing recovery, minimising blood loss, reducing opioid use, improving cosmesis and critically improving functional and oncological outcomes. Robotic surgery holds promise to build on the above achievements in South Africa. It enables surgeons to perform complex procedures with exceptional precision, control, and accuracy. And it expands the complexity of cases that can be done with MIS.