Hong Kong robot surgeons defended after US warning

Patients were reassured yesterday that they have nothing to worry about when they find a surgical robot waiting for them in the operating theatre. It follows a report that the hi-tech equipment could be responsible for unreported fatalities in the United States.

However, one Hong Kong doctor said he believed there had not been a single incident involving robotic surgery since it was first used in the city eight years ago.

The same da Vinci robotic system used in Hong Kong's hospital was the subject of the report in The New York Times yesterday that linked it to 174 injuries and 71 deaths.

Citing a study published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, the article admitted that while the surgical robot had the potential to reduce human error, improve efficiency and perform complex procedures, little was known about the injuries and fatalities caused by the equipment.

It claimed the evidence of botched operations using the da Vinci system in American hospitals was not being reported to the US Food and Drug Administration in breach of requirements.

Hong Kong is at the forefront of robotic surgery in Asia, with the first such device installed in November 2005 at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin.

Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam was also conducting robotic surgery by 2007, according to Dr Chan See-ching, a surgeon at the hospital.