Adam Yopp, M.D., performs a Whipple procedure with Brendan Sayers, surgical P.A.

In recent years, the division of surgical oncology has been providing a robotic surgical approach to treat different malignancies. Over 200 robotic procedures have been performed on the UT Southwestern Medical Center campus, including at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, for complex gastrointestinal and hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) malignancies by our team. Our HPB minimally invasive program, which encompasses the robotic resection of liver and pancreas malignancies, has been led by Patricio Polanco, M.D., and Adam Yopp, M.D. This approach has allowed our team to offer complex surgical procedures for cancer care that have proven benefits, including less morbidity, less pain, less need of pain medication, prompt recovery, and earlier return to systemic therapy (when needed) than the traditional open procedure.

With Herbert J. Zeh, III, M.D., joining UT Southwestern as chair and as faculty in the division of surgical oncology, the robotic program has received a significant expansion of its expertise. Dr. Zeh is internationally recognized as the pioneer in robotic HPB surgery with the most experience in robotic pancreas resections, including the Whipple procedure.

“I think the robotic Whipple program is the perfect next step in expanding the HPB program that has been built over the past decade by our group,” Dr. Yopp said. “It complements the robotic liver program already in place and allows our team to offer a surgical procedure by high-volume surgeons that is not provided elsewhere in Texas.”

The UT Southwestern HPB program is currently not only a leader in the region in minimally invasive approaches for cancer surgery but is also focused on training the next generation of surgeons, our general surgery residents, using a robust robotic training curriculum.