Quintana Roo Makes History With First Robotic Surgery at Public Hospital

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Quintana Roo has reached a milestone in public health with the state’s first robotic surgeries, performed at the Hospital General de Cancún “Dr. Jesús Kumate Rodríguez.” Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa toured the facility to see the new technology in action.

The procedures officially launch the hospital’s robotic surgery program, which opened Aug. 31, and place Quintana Roo among the Mexican states offering highly specialized surgical technology through the public health system.

Two cholecystectomies — gallbladder removals — were performed on patients over 18. The first patient, a 48-year-old man diagnosed with chronic cholecystitis, came through the operation without complications and is in good health.

Dr. María de los Ángeles Martínez Ferretiz, a surgeon at the hospital and professor in charge of the general surgery postgraduate course, performed one of the operations. She is the second woman in Mexico certified to use the VERSIUS system and the first in the Yucatán Peninsula.

The VERSIUS robotic modular-arm system is available in only five hospitals nationwide. According to specialists, robotic surgery enables greater precision through three-dimensional imaging and increased reach and depth, resulting in smaller incisions, less blood loss, less postoperative pain, a lower risk of infection and faster recovery.

Lezama highlighted the importance of letting patients access specialized procedures without having to travel outside the state and praised the medical staff who made the advance possible.

The program at the Cancún hospital plans to certify up to 16 surgeons in general surgery, gynecology, urology and thoracic surgery. That will gradually expand the system’s use to procedures such as hysterectomies, prostate cancer operations and other complex interventions.