HPB Surgery: Building a Program

Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery includes all surgical procedures to the liver, bile ducts and pancreas and can be highly complex, associated with high morbidity and mortality. To mitigate the impact of the surgery on the patient, conventional laparoscopy was introduced. This technique, however, is limited by the non-articulating instruments and two-dimensional view. These restrictions do not make laparoscopy suited for the entire spectrum of HPB surgery. The use of a surgical robot provides a potential solution with three-dimensional view, a magnified view of the operative field, scaled movements and articulating instruments. Potentially, the use of the surgical robot broadens indications for minimally invasive HPB surgery. Research presented in this thesis evaluated the different aspects of the set-up, technical details, dissemination and outcomes of robotic liver surgery (part 1) and robotic pancreatic surgery (part 2).