Since 2005 when the da Vinci surgical system was approved as a medical device by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 51 systems have been installed in 40 institutions as of May 2015. Although robotic surgery is not covered by the national health insurance service in Korea, it has been used in several urologic fields as a less invasive surgery. Since the first robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in 2005, partial nephrectomy, radical cystectomy, pyeloplasty, and other urologic surgeries have been performed. The following should be considered to extend the indications for robotic surgery: training systems including accreditation, operative outcomes from follow-up results, and cost-effectiveness. In this review, the history and current status of robotic surgeries in Korea are presented.
Keyphrases
- health insurance
- radical prostatectomy
- robot assisted
- healthcare
- minimally invasive
- prostate cancer
- current status
- mental health
- quality improvement
- affordable care act
- public health
- coronary artery bypass
- coronary artery disease
- risk assessment
- climate change
- acute coronary syndrome
- surgical site infection
- human health