British surgeons share robot for pioneering cancer operation

A British cancer patient is believed to be the first in Britain to undergo an operation performed by two surgeons using the same surgical robot, local press reported Thursday.

Christine Lockton, from Croydon in south London, is recovering at home after being operated on in two areas at the same time in a rare procedure using a robot.

The 12-hour operation involved gynecological surgeon Marielle Nobbenhuis performing a hysterectomy and gastrointestinal surgeon Shahnawaz Rasheed removing the tumor in her bowel that had invaded her womb.

The 63-year-old was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in September after she grew concerned about unexplained weight loss. She had a large tumor in her bowel.

The use of the Da Vinci robot meant Lockton, who had previously had breast cancer, was able to avoid conventional "open" surgery, which would have required a large incision in her stomach, said the reports.

Surgeons sat on opposite sides of a robotic console as they performed the procedures. The technology enabled them to see the affected area in close detail using 3D magnified images.

The "arms" of the robots allowed the team to make tiny movements and remove "all natural human tremor," while its "hand" can rotate 360 degrees.

Rasheed, who led the operation with Nobbenhuis, said, "The precision of surgery, we think, is much higher."

Lockton was able to be discharged after six days.