Surgical team at Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge performs record 10 robot-assisted gall bladder operations on ‘Super Sunday’

Never mind the London Marathon, a team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital has completed a cholecystectomy marathon - removing a record number of gall bladders in one day using surgical robots.

On what has been dubbed ‘Super Sunday’, surgeons undertook 10 laparoscopic procedures and all of the patients were treated as day surgery cases, so they were able to go home the same day.

Two theatres were used for the keyhole procedures, each with a da Vinci surgical robot.

One of these was bought by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, aided by the Cambridge Independent’s £1.5m Buy A Robot fundraising campaign.

Hepatobiliary surgeon Siong-Seng Liau, chair of Cambridge University Hospital (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust’s robotic surgery steering group (RUG), said: “Robotic surgery has revolutionised patient care, providing better precision and accuracy. It is less invasive allowing patients to recover more quickly and to have a shorter stay in hospital. In many cases, robotic surgery has converted some patients who conventionally may require open surgery due to more complex disease to now undergoing day-case robotic surgery.”

The achievement follows another record in December, during which 2,142 elective operations were carried out at Addenbrooke’s, despite the winter pressures.

This was the highest number of elective procedures ever carried out in that month and 276 more than the average December, helping patients requiring hip and knee procedures, cancer operations and more.

Sunday’s marathon was focused on cholecystectomies, in which the pouch-like gallbladder is removed. It is offered to patients who have painful gallstones in the upper part of the stomach as the gallbladder is not medically essential.

Addenbrooke’s robots are helping surgeons to reduce waiting lists aross six specialties - urology, gynae-oncology, gynaecology, colorectal, ENT (ear, nose and throat) and HPB (hepato-pancreatico-biliary - diseases of the liver, pancreas and biliary tree).

Operations manager Graham Johnston said: “I would like to thank the robotic team for an incredibly successful Sunday, and everyone who works in theatres for an amazing couple of months. It has been a huge team effort during a really challenging time of year.”

ACT CEO Shelly Thake added: “It is such a positive thing to hear the robot our supporters paid for is helping to reduce waiting lists. Every donation made really makes a huge difference.”

To make a donation to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/donate.

Patient Ian says Super Sunday operation was ‘remarkable’

One patient who benefited from a robot-assisted operation to remove his gallbladder was great grandfather Ian Dove, 51, from Burwell, who said: “It was just remarkable.”

He went into theatre at noon and left Addenbrooke’s at 3.30pm the same day, thanks to the robotic procedure. If he had undergone open surgery, he would have been in hospital for a week.

“The incredible thing is that I left without any pain,” he said. “I think keyhole surgery and Super Sundays to cut waiting lists are a fantastic idea.”

Mr Dove, who works in construction, went to his GP after suffering from pain in his upper stomach. It came and went, but when it became constant, he was referred to Addenbrooke’s.

He had a lengthy wait for an operation, during which he was increasingly having to take days off work.

He jumped at the chance to join a smaller pilot Super Sunday list in December and after a few weeks recovering at home Mr Dove, who has 13 grandchildren and four great grandchildren, said he was looking forward to spending more time with them.

He is also eager to return to fishing and get back on a motorbike, and hopes to ride in the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races in June.

Mr Dove, who lives with wife Glynis said: “There were days when I couldn’t pick up a screwdriver, let alone move bricks and plasterboards, but after the operation I was absolutely fine with the exception of a few ‘bullet holes’, which you can hardly see now.

“I’m really looking forward to getting on the bike and going to the Isle of Man. It is an amazing spectacle and a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.”