First fully robotic Esophagectomy in Canada performed at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

A 74-year-old man from Burlington was the first patient in this country to have a fully robotic surgical process to remove cancer from the esophagus. St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton is the first hospital in the country to do it.

Even though the traditional surgical process has been going on for years, this new advancement is less invasive.

Dr. Wael Hanna wanted to improve this process. Hanna started researching fully robotic esophagectomy which was being performed in the United States. The surgery uses robotic arms which allows patients to recover and move on to chemotherapy faster.

Esophageal cancer has one of the highest mortality rates and requires major surgery to address.

The traditional surgery is usually associated with a high rate of complications and 6 months of recovery from the operation.

Since the robotic surgery is fairly new, it isn't funded by OHIP, "it relies on donations from very generous donors, philanthropists, institutions, hospitals," Hanna says.

Dr. Hanna says they are still researching the speed of recovery and quality of life differences.