HCA Florida Brandon Hospital launches lung cancer surgery with two cutting-edge robots
Diagnosis, pathology and surgical removal of cancerous tumors is performed in a single anesthetic lung cancer surgery
Lung cancer tumor removal can now be cared for with one minimally invasive surgery at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital. With the use of a cutting-edge robotic navigational bronchoscope and robotic surgical system, Brandon Hospital’s thoracic surgical team can provide comprehensive lung cancer care. This procedure is called a single anesthetic lung cancer surgery.
With the use of the robotic navigational bronchoscope, physicians at Brandon Hospital can access a patient’s lung’s airways to travel to a lung nodule found on a chest x-ray, CT scan or MRI. Then, fluorescent dye is injected into the nodule, encapsulating the location.
The patient undergoes a robotic thoracic surgery next. A laser within the robot identifies the lesion originally highlighted by the dye and a biopsy is performed. The nodule is removed and then immediately analyzed by pathology determining whether the nodule is cancerous or not in less than 15 minutes. If the nodule is cancerous, a definitive cancer surgery such as a lobectomy or segmentectomy is completed. Both procedures are done in one surgery. Hence the patient does not have to go under anesthesia twice.
Prior to the introduction of the single anesthetic technique, patients underwent two or more surgeries to diagnose and treat lung cancers. With fewer episodes under anesthesia, patients benefit from quicker diagnosis and definitive treatment, all in a minimally invasive setting which offers less pain, fewer complications and faster return to full activity.
“To perform a procedure like this is truly about the strength of the team. We have a skilled team from anesthesia, pathology and endoscopy, to our operating room and post-op care nurses. We are using the most advanced robotic surgical systems together to enable the best patient outcomes with the least amount of recovery time,” said Dr. Bryan Steinberg, thoracic surgeon at Brandon Hospital. “If we can intervene early, we are able to cure lung cancer with this procedure. The single anesthetic lobectomy represents a significant advancement in minimally invasive thoracic surgery.”
To learn more about the lung cancer program at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, visit our webpage