Korean J Urol.  2015 Aug;56(8):546-552. 10.4111/kju.2015.56.8.546.

Urologic robotic surgery in Korea: Past and present

• Seo IY

• KMID: 2164405
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4111/kju.2015.56.8.546

Abstract

Since 2005 when the da Vinci surgical system was approved as a medical device by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 51 systems have been installed in 40 institutions as of May 2015. Although robotic surgery is not covered by the national health insurance service in Korea, it has been used in several urologic fields as a less invasive surgery. Since the first robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in 2005, partial nephrectomy, radical cystectomy, pyeloplasty, and other urologic surgeries have been performed. The following should be considered to extend the indications for robotic surgery: training systems including accreditation, operative outcomes from follow-up results, and cost-effectiveness. In this review, the history and current status of robotic surgeries in Korea are presented.

Keyword

Korea; Nephrectomy; Prostatectomy; Robotics

MeSH Terms

Cystectomy/methods
History, 21st Century
Humans
Nephrectomy/methods
Prostatectomy/methods
Republic of Korea
Robotic Surgical Procedures/history/*methods
Urologic Surgical Procedures/history/*methods

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Number of robotic surgeries in Korea (data from Intuitive Surgical Korea Ltd.). RALPP, robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty; RALRC, robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy; RALRN, robot-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy; RALPN, robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy; RALRP, robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

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  Fig. 2 Increasing situations of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and partial nephrectomy in Korea (data from Intuitive Surgical Korea Ltd.). RALPP, robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty; RALPN, robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

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