London first for ‘revolutionary’ robotic surgery in children

A 7-year-old boy has become the first child in London to successfully undergo an operation using a ‘revolutionary’ surgical robotic system at Evelina London Children’s Hospital as part of a landmark clinical trial.

This cutting-edge technology, known as the Versius Surgical Robotic System, uses flexible modular arms that allow surgeons to carry out minimally invasive operations with increased precision. This can enable patients to have a shorter and less painful recovery period following their surgery.

Rufus Quinn, from south London, underwent a robotic assisted pyeloplasty – a surgical procedure that aims to correct a blockage at the ureteropelvic junction, the space between the kidney and the tube that drains urine into the bladder.

This type of blockage impacts approximately 1 in 1,500 children and if not treated through surgery, can be painful and lead to increased risk of infection and deterioration of kidney function.

Rufus received his operation at Evelina London, which is part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The surgical team was led by consultant paediatric urologist, Pankaj Mishra, who sat in the same room as Rufus and controlled the Versius robotic system through an open console with a screen.

Versius consists of four modular arms that are designed to mimic human joints and have a 710-degree range of motion. Each arm operates a miniaturised surgical instrument, with one arm additionally controlling a 3D camera that allows the surgeon to see inside the patient.

The robotic system translates any movements made by the surgeon on the open console into smaller, more precise motions in the robot’s miniaturised surgical instruments. This increased precision can make operations less invasive, helping to support faster recovery times in patients.

Rufus’ mother, Jenny Quinn, said: “Although Rufus was initially nervous about the surgery, he was mainly very excited. He wants to be a scientist when he grows up and he liked the idea of his surgeon using a futuristic robot to carry out his operation.

“The doctors at Evelina London have been brilliant and we cannot sing their praises enough. The surgery went smoothly and Rufus has been able to recover really quickly. He was able to return to school after a few days and is now even back to playing on his ice hockey team for Stretham again”.

In addition to helping speed up patient recovery times, Versius can also make complex operations less physically demanding for surgeons. This has the potential to reduce strain on surgical teams, allowing a greater number of complex surgeries to be carried out each day.

Mr Pankaj Mishra, said: “This robotic system has the potential to revolutionise the way we carry out complex surgeries in children. This type of system is much less tiring for the surgeon involved, which means that difficult surgeries can become a lot easier.

“At the moment, we typically only carry out one complex operation, such as a pyeloplasty, per surgical list. However, Versius has the potential to allow us to do more of these type of operations in a shorter period of time.”

While Versius is routinely used for adult surgeries, CMR Surgical in collaboration with the NHS has recently initiated a prospective multi-centre clinical trial to use this robotic system in children. The additional NHS sites taking part in the trial are the Southampton Children’s Hospital – part of the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust – and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. This trial will initially use Versius to undertake a range of urological procedures in 150 paediatric patients across the UK, before assessing its potential use for a wider range of conditions.

Dr Lance Tooke, Clinical Director for Children's Surgery, Theatres and Anaesthesia at Evelina London said: “Guy’s and St Thomas’ is the largest robotic programme in the UK and we, at Evelina London, are proud to be part of this programme. We are delighted to participate in this initial trial and hope this will open up new possibilities for using robotic systems in paediatric surgery.”