Inha University Hospital's surgical robot program tops 3,000 cases in 8 years

The surgery department at Inha University Hospital has reached a cumulative 3,000 robot-assisted surgeries, further cementing its standing in the regional robotic surgery field.

As of late July, the department had logged 3,000 robot surgeries since launching the program in December 2018, when the hospital opened its Robot Surgery Center — a milestone achieved in roughly eight years.

The pace of growth has also accelerated. The department hit 1,000 cases in 2022 and surpassed 2,000 in 2024, then added another 1,000 in just over two years to reach the 3,000 mark.

A key driver of the department's robot surgery expansion is its infrastructure, which supports both multi-port and single-port robotic systems.

The hospital uses the da Vinci Xi and da Vinci SP platforms, selecting the appropriate surgical approach based on each patient's condition, anatomy and the area being operated on.

Single-port robot surgery — which operates through a single incision — reduces the size of the cut, lowering pain and scarring while shortening recovery time.

The surgery department has steadily broadened the application of single-port robot surgery to cover thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and gallbladder and spleen removal, among other procedures.

It has also performed single-port robot surgeries in five disease and procedure categories — colorectal cancer, breast cancer, hernia, adrenal gland removal and cholecystectomy — each for the first time in Incheon.

For thyroid cancer, the department uses an approach through the axillary fold to minimize visible scarring on the neck, keeping the cosmetic burden on patients as low as possible.

The Robot Surgery Center as a whole has also consistently expanded its scale.

The center currently operates three da Vinci robotic surgery systems alongside Ion, a robot-assisted bronchoscopy platform, and Intuitive Hub, a remote robotic surgery media platform.

Across all specialties, the center has already performed more than 5,000 robot-related procedures.

The surgery department's 3,000-case milestone accounts for a significant share of the center's overall robotic surgery growth.

Inha University Hospital said that throughout its robot surgery expansion, it has focused not merely on increasing case numbers but on prioritizing patient safety and maximizing the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.

Shin Woo-young, chief of the surgery department at Inha University Hospital, said the 3,000-case milestone in eight years "means that patients' trust in robot surgery has been consistently growing."