Penn Medicine surgeons perform world’s first robotic breast reconstruction
The minimally invasive procedure enhances recovery and eliminates narcotics.
A team of surgeons from the Perelman School of Medicine are the first in the world to use a surgical robot to assist with a bilateral free flap breast reconstruction—a procedure in which tissue is taken from the lower abdomen—similar to a “tummy tuck”—and used to rebuild the breast. The robot allows surgeons to make a much smaller incision into the abdominal wall muscles, allowing patients to recover and be discharged more quickly, without the use of addictive narcotic painkillers.
Suhail Kanchwala,an associate professor of plastic surgery, led the team that performed the procedure, which took place at Pennsylvania Hospital earlier this month. Kanchwala partnered with Ian Soriano,a clinical assistant professor of surgery, who specializes in minimally invasive procedures, to develop the technique.
“We’ve been using a minimally-invasive, laparoscopic technique to reduce pain and get patients home more quickly without using narcotics for more than a year. The addition of the surgical robot allows for greater precision and is the next step in our evolution,” Kanchwala says.
Women who have chosen a mastectomy, either to remove cancerous breast tissue or as preventative measure due to genetic risk, have several options for reconstruction. Traditionally, using a patients’ own tissue results in a more natural appearance and is a more permanent solution when compared to implant-based reconstructions, which often require additional surgeries.
“Our experience is what allows us to innovate, and adapting minimally invasive approaches to breast reconstruction allows patients to have the same recovery of implant reconstruction without the downsides of having an implant, such as the risk of infection or the need for further surgery,” says Kanchwala.
Griffin Pitt, right, works with two other student researchers to test the conductivity, total dissolved solids, salinity, and temperature of water below a sand dam in Kenya.
Griffin Pitt’s upbringing made her passionate about water access and pollution, and Penn has given her the opportunity to explore these issues back home in North Carolina and abroad.
Helping robots work together to explore the Moon and Mars
Penn Engineers, NASA, and five other universities tested robotic systems designed to help unmanned explorers cooperate in the dunes of White Sands, New Mexico, paving the way for Moon and Mars exploration.
From framework to actions: Provost John L. Jackson Jr. talks Penn Forward
In a Q&A, Provost John L. Jackson Jr. explains the relationship between the strategic framework In Principle and Practice and Penn Forward—a new University-wide process and action plan that will advance Penn forward for the next decade and beyond.
