Robotic surgery advances what’s possible at Millard Fillmore Suburban

BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s been about 14 years since the region’s largest hospitals began using da Vinci robotic surgical systems for urological and OB-GYN procedures.

Today, these systems are being used in just about every specialty, including thoracic, orthopedics and general surgery, giving even smaller community hospitals the opportunity to offer minimally invasive procedures with quicker recovery times.

Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital is taking full advantage, with five robots and a surgical case volume and breadth of services that rivals the top programs, according to hospital officials. The hospital is on pace to complete its 20,000th robotic-assisted surgery and does about 2,500 annually.