Cleveland Clinic is the first medical center in the United States to perform a minimally invasive gastric sleeve procedure using a newly FDA-approved surgical robot with magnetic technology.
Gastric sleeve surgery, also called sleeve gastrectomy , is one of the most common bariatric surgery procedures. It removes a large portion of the stomach, leaving a narrow “sleeve.”
Matthew Kroh, MD, section chief of surgical endoscopy and vice president of innovation and technology at the Cleveland Clinic Digestive Diseases Institute, led the team that successfully performed the operation in September. Following the procedure to treat obesity, the patient feels well.
"Advances in robotic technology allow surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries with fewer incisions," said Dr. Kroh. "As a result, patients experience less pain, less scarring and a faster recovery."
Combining magnetic technology with a surgical robot improves minimally invasive surgery and provides benefits for patients and surgeons.
Reflecting on the first case using a surgical robot with magnetic technology, Dr. Kroh highlighted the use of one of the robotic arms equipped with a surgical camera. “It is an advantage for the surgeon to control the robotic arm with the camera to see inside the body and visualize the tissues and organs during surgery. Without the robot, the surgical camera would be mounted on a thin rod and I would contact an assistant to ask them to move the camera.”
The robot with magnetic technology was recently approved by the FDA for minimally invasive gastric sleeve surgery. With the use of magnetic technology, surgeons can use the magnet to gently manipulate tissues and organs as needed depending on the surgery.
For the first case, Dr. Kroh and lead surgeon Andrew Strong, MD, used magnetic technology to gently move the liver and view the stomach while the abdominal procedure was performed laparoscopically. Without magnetic technology, an additional incision would have been needed so that a surgical assistant could hold the liver in place during surgery using a laparoscopic instrument.
Dr. Kroh said that with fewer incisions, patients experience less pain and scarring. "In addition, research shows that there may be a faster recovery by using magnetic technology to hold the liver in place during a procedure rather than using a surgical instrument," Dr. Kroh said.
Prior to the FDA approval of the magnetically assisted surgical robot, Dr. Kroh and his colleagues observed the use of that platform in cases performed internationally. The research paper, published in Annals of Surgery Open , concluded that the robotic platform brings the benefits of magnetic surgery by reducing incisions and giving the surgeon full control of the camera.
"Robotic technologies will increasingly incorporate more advanced imaging and navigation systems to allow us to perform operations more effectively and safely," Dr. Kroh said.
In August 2023, the magnetically assisted robotic surgery platform was approved by the FDA for abdominal surgeries, including gallbladder removal and bariatric surgery.
Since the first case at the Cleveland Clinic in September, Dr. Kroh and his team have successfully performed additional procedures using the robotic platform, including a gastric bypass procedure.
