Amid the ongoing concentration of patients traveling to major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area for specialized care, a regional medical hub in South Korea has reached a major milestone in advanced robot-assisted surgery.
The Robot Surgery Center at Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, led by Center Director Kwon Sang-hoon, announced Sept. 2 that it has become the first medical institution outside the Seoul metropolitan area to surpass 10,000 cumulative robot-assisted surgeries.
The landmark 10,000th procedure was a partial nephrectomy successfully performed on Sept. 2 under the direction of Professor Shin Taek-joon of the Department of Urology. Hospital officials emphasized that reaching 10,000 cases serves as more than just a volume milestone; it demonstrates enhanced regional capacity to treat severe, high-complexity conditions locally, reducing the necessity for patients to seek treatment in the capital.
Expanding Surgical Boundaries Across Specialties
Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital initiated its robotic surgery program in 2011 with the installation of the da Vinci Si system. The center expanded its infrastructure in 2019 by adding the da Vinci Xi and a voice-recognition system, followed by the acquisition of the state-of-the-art da Vinci SP single-port system in 2022.
Using this technological foundation, the hospital has systematically expanded robot-assisted operations for technically demanding conditions, including gynecologic, prostate, thyroid, and colorectal cancers. Across multiple departments, the hospital has established a series of domestic and international clinical achievements:
Gynecology: The hospital established an early lead in single-port robotic surgery, executing the region’s first single-port procedure for an ovarian tumor in 2014, Asia’s first single-port operation for cervical cancer in 2015, and the world’s first single-port surgery for endometrial cancer in 2016.
Urology: Surgeons have routinely applied single-port techniques to high-risk cancers—including prostate, kidney, and bladder cancers—reducing postoperative complications and accelerating recovery times.
Breast and Endocrine Surgery: The department became the world’s third to successfully perform transoral incision thyroid cancer surgery (TONS-R). It has also improved patient quality of life by offering integrated single-stage mastectomy and breast reconstruction.
Colorectal Surgery: The team advanced global surgical practices after becoming the first in the world to perform a single-port robot-assisted proctectomy for rectal cancer.
Pediatric Surgery: The hospital recently achieved a world first by consecutively executing single-port robotic operations for pediatric choledochal cyst excision and biliary atresia, offering minimally invasive alternatives for severe pediatric conditions that traditionally required open surgery.
"Surpassing 10,000 cases as the first institution outside the Seoul metropolitan area is the direct result of precise surgical expertise and multidisciplinary teamwork," said Kwon, center director and professor of obstetrics and gynecology. "We will continue to provide patients with safe and effective personalized care through ongoing research and surgical innovation."
To commemorate the milestone, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital plans to host a ceremony on Sept. 16 at its main auditorium to review its clinical achievements and share its vision for the future of robotic surgery.
