Atlas of Robotic Thoracic Surgery

Dr. Kernstine specializes in minimally invasive and robotic surgery including dozens of robotic thoracic procedures since he started his practice at UT Southwestern and more than 500 cases in the last 10 years. He is credited with performing several first robotic chest procedures and techniques, including the first published robotic oncologic esophagectomy in the world. Since the first surgery, he has become one of the highest volume robotic thoracic surgeons in the country with outstanding results. He has lectured worldwide on the different robotic chest techniques and serves as instructor internationally to surgeons and new surgical programs. As Professor and Chair of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and a leader on the lung cancer treatment team, Dr. Kernstine focuses on the surgical management of a wide spectrum of benign and malignant diseases of the chest and coordinates care with other physicians and team members throughout Simmons Cancer Center and UT Southwestern.

Part 1: Overview

Principles of Robotic Thoracic Surgery, Program Development and Equipment

Anesthesia for Robotic Thoracic Surgery

Part 2: Anatomic Lung Resection

Robotic Lobectomy

Robotic Lobectomy: Hilum First Technique

Robotic Pancoast and Chest Wall Resection

Part 3: Mediastinum

Robotic Anterior Mediastinal Mass/Cyst and Thymectomy

Robotic Anterior Mediastinal Mass Resection: Belgium

Robotic Thymectomy: China

Robotic Applications to the Mediastinum

Difficult Mediastinal Mass Resections: Robotic Approach and Solutions: Austria

Part 4: Esophagectomy

Robotic Transhiatal Esophagectomy

Robot-Assisted Thoracolaparoscopic Esophagectomy: The Netherlands

Robotic Esophagectomy 

Part 5: Diaphragm Procedures

Laparoscopic Robotic Diaphragmatic Plication

Robotic Diaphragmatic Mass Removal

Robotic Phrenic Nerve Pacemaker Implantation

Robotic Pericardial Cyst/Mass Resection

The Surgical Treatment of Pericardial Disease: The Robotic Approach

Robotic Transthoracic Thoracic Duct Ligation

Robotic Diaphragm Plication

Part 6: Hiatal Hernia Repair

Robotic Laparoscopic Modified Belsey Procedure (Gastroesophageal Valvuloplasty) for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Robotic Fundoplication: Nissen-Rossetti

Robotic Paraesophageal "Giant" Hiatal Hernia Repair

Part 7: Repair of Esophageal Dysmotility

Robotic Heller Myotomy

Part 8: Miscellaneous

Robotic-Assisted Esophageal Epiphrenic Diverticulectomy

Esophageal Leiomyoma

Robotic Transthoracic Esophageal Leiomyoma Resection

Robotic First Rib Resection: Paget-Schroetter's Syndrome

"This will be an excellent resource for cardiothoracic trainees and experienced surgeons for those attempting robotic surgeries initially or for those performed infrequently. Readers will benefit from the experience of the authors who are recognized experts globally. ... Illustrations are quite helpful for port placement and setup as well as the conduct of operations. The book could benefit from additional intraoperative photos. Overall, it covers the full breadth of robotic thoracic surgery." (Nathan Zwintscher, Doody's Book Reviews, July 05, 2019)