Barcelona hospital presents first Da Vinci surgical robot in operation in public healthcare system

The first surgical Da Vinci robot in the Spanish public health system is in operation at Barcelona's Hospital Sant Pau, where it has already operated on a dozen patients.

This machine is capable of inserting all necessary instruments and the camera through a single incision of between 3-5 cm, rather than requiring four incisions for the same objective, as was the case up to now. 

In some cases, no incision is even needed, as it can access the area through the body's natural orifices, such as in neck surgeries.

The machine allows doctors to perform highly complex surgeries "in a minimally invasive way," director of the Surgical Process, José Manuel Francos, told the Catalan News Agency, resulting in less postoperative pain and a much faster recovery for patients.

The new robotic Da Vinci Single Port equipment was installed last December and during the first months of 2025, the surgical teams that will use it have been trained on the new equipment,

A dozen patients have been operated on with the robot so far, but the forecast is that it will be fully operational in May.

Hospital managers expect to be able to perform between 150 and 200 surgeries per year with the device.

The robot deploys a camera and three fully articulated instruments from its single arm, which has three elbows. “This allows us 360-degree anatomical access. Imagine three surgeons operating on a patient at the same time and being able to move their arms 360 degrees,” Dr. Francos highlighted.