Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center Performs 1,000th Single-Port Robotic Procedure - More Than Any Other Hospital in the Country

Surgeons at Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center performed their 1,000th Single-Port Robotic surgery with the da Vinci single port (SP) system on March 23.

Hackensack University Medical Center, a center for excellence in advanced robotic surgery, was the first and only hospital in New Jersey to have access to this groundbreaking technology in 2018 and is now the first hospital in the country to perform the most procedures with it.

“Performing 1,000 Single-Port Robotic procedures is a tremendous accomplishment for our entire team and for our patients,” says Michael D. Stifleman, MD, director of Robotic Surgery at Hackensack Meridian Health Network. “The more procedures we perform with this state-of-the-art technology, the greater the benefit for our patients as it further minimizes the trauma associated with surgery while enhancing precision and control compared to traditional techniques.”

The da Vinci SP technology’s revolutionary design involves a single arm that delivers three multi-jointed instruments and camera, making it an innovative, dynamic instrument for narrow, deep spaces. A single, one inch incision helps surgeons perform complex procedures in \the most minimally invasive way, resulting in less pain and fewer complications, especially with urologic procedures, including prostate cancer; kidney cancer; head and neck cancers; and advanced urinary tract reconstruction surgery. Click on the image below to learn more about the future of single-port surgery in an episode of “Operation: Reimagine Surgery,” a Freethink original series produced in partnership with Intuitive, which created the world’s first commercially available robotic surgery system in the 1990s.

“Surgeons at Hackensack University Medical Center performed New Jersey’s first robotic surgery more than 20 years ago,” says Mark D. Sparta, FACHE, President & Chief Hospital Executive of Hackensack University Medical Center and President, North Region, Hackensack Meridian Health. “Our academic medical center now has the largest and most experienced robotic surgery program in the state and one of the busiest in the nation.”

Experience matters as close to 25% of the nation’s single-port robotic procedures are completed at Hackensack University Medical Center by renowned surgeons including Chan W. Park, M.D., head and neck oncology surgeon; Brian E. Benson, M.D., interim chair of Otolaryngology; and Mutahar Ahmed, M.D., director of the Urologic Bladder Cancer Program; and Dr. Michael Stifelman, who is also professor and chair of Urology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

“Single-port robotic surgery places Hackensack University Medical Center’s urology program on the world stage with surgeons visiting us from the most prestigious medical centers nationally and internationally to see how we do it here in Hackensack," says Dr. Ahmed. "Hackensack University Medical Center is focused on bringing the most advanced technologies and the most experienced surgeons together to constantly improve patient outcomes. The single-port technology is transformative and enables our surgeons to perform the most complex surgeries in the hardest to reach places, through just one small incision."