A team of surgeons at UC San Diego Health have become the first in the U.S. to use Distalmotion's Dexter surgical robot in the outpatient setting.
The robot, which earned FDA clearance just 30 days ago, was used for two adult inguinal hernia repairs on Nov. 26, according to a Dec. 3 news release.
Over 90% of hernia repairs are currently performed in the ASC setting, and the new robot is specifically tailored for those environments.
The robot's design and form factor are both small, making it well-suited to outpatient environments.
Dexter integrates into existing operating workflows and is fully compatible with current operating room equipment, according to the release. Its single-use instruments also remove complexities of reprocessing.
Garth Jacobsen, MD, professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine and director of the UC San Diego Comprehensive Hernia Center, and Ryan Broderick, MD, associate professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine and surgeon at UC San Diego Health, were the first surgeons in the U.S. to launch the robot system.
More than 1,400 patients in Europe have successfully been treated in the outpatient setting using the robot.