Dr. Iswanto Sucandy Speaks at Virtual Masterclass Robotic Liver Surgery Webinar
In December 5th, 2022, Dr Sucandy was invited by his colleague Prof. Allesandro Anselmo from Rome, Italy to be the one of the expert panelists during a Masterclass Webinar covering robotic left hepatectomy operation. Prof Anselmo is a prominent minimally invasive hepatopancreatobiliary and a liver transplant surgeon in Europe.
He was educated in the University of Hamburg in Germany during his younger days. He is an active contributor to the scientific literature with liver surgery and transplantation as his areas of expertise.
During this virtual webinar, two expert surgeons Dr. Giuseppe Ettore and Dr Mathieu D’Hondt presented laparoscopic and robotic approach for left sided liver resection, respectively. The two different approached were presented to see the uniqueness of both.
Dr. Ettore is a Professor of Hepatobiliary surgery from San Camillo Hospital in Rome and Dr. D’Hondt is a Hepatopancreatobiliary surgery from AZ Groeninge in Kortrijk Belgium. Dr. D’Hondt had invited Dr. Sucandy previously to give a lecture in Belgium during the first international minimally invasive liver surgery symposium held at the Barco Headquarter in Kortrijk.
The virtual masterclass webinar highlighted many important steps in both laparoscopic and robotic left hepatectomy. A technique to gain inflow vascular control, parenchymal division, and handling of large vein were discussed among the panelist including Dr Sucandy.
In this masterclass course, Dr Sucandy was present as an expert in robotic liver surgery, sharing his extensive experience from hundreds of robotic liver surgery cases. This is an important lecture for many surgeons who are at earlier phases of their learning curves. The virtual webinar was attended by almost 1000 surgeons from 40 countries.
Dr. Sucandy also discussed the benefits of robotic platform in performing lymphadenectomy for bile duct cancer. In patients with Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (a type of bile duct cancer that grows in the liver), an aggressive resection of all the lymph nodes around the liver is very important.
It is not only important for proper cancer staging, but also to clear those potentially cancer containing lymph nodes around the region of pancreas and bile duct. The American Joint Committee for Cancer required at least 6 lymph nodes are removed in order to do a proper staging of the cancer.
From a technical perspective, it is difficult to complete an aggressive lymphadenectomy using a laparoscopic technique due to the nature of unarticulated ‘straight’ instruments. The robotic platform however, gives the advantage of fully articulated instruments to reach the deep and difficult areas as well as easy suturing of blood vessels. Dr. Sucandy explained the salutary benefits of robotic surgery in these cases, based on his extensive experience in using the robotic system.
Dr Sucandy is a leader in robotic liver surgery and therefore he made frequent trips to Europe and Asia for teaching and education purposes. It is clear that the experience and wide network have placed Dr. Sucandy and his team at the best position to be able to deliver safe and modern care for their patients in need of liver surgery. Many patients travel from out of state or even internationally (out of the US) to seek consultations and liver surgery with Dr. Sucandy.
