Continuing our commitment to surgical innovation, Ohio State has invested in robotic surgery – so much so that we can now claim the top spot as the nation’s fastest-growing robotic surgery program. Several programs and surgeons are instrumental to this rank:
- The Thoracic Robotic Surgery program is one of the highest volume robotic surgery programs in the country. Prior to 2017, the division performed only a few robotic procedures annually, so this is a particularly dramatic increase. In addition, our robotic curriculum for the thoracic surgery fellowship makes our program a destination for specialists.
- Thoracic surgeons Robert Merritt, MD, and Desmond D’Souza, MD, performed 250 robotic-assisted operations within the past year.
- Ohio State also claims the largest general surgery robotic program, led by David Renton, MD, and Michael Meara, MD.
- The OSUCCC – James and the Department of Surgery’s robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy, or “Whipple” program, is one of the nation’s highest-volume robotic programs of its type in the country. Because this is a less invasive procedure, the Whipple procedure can improve a patient’s quality of life by shortening recovery time. Also, as surgical oncologist Mary Dillhoff, MD, emphasizes, “Obviously, getting back to their normal daily activities is important for anyone, but if they can get on therapy faster, hopefully we can see better outcomes for them in the long-term as well.”