Huntington Hospital Uses New Robot To Perform First-Ever Surgeries In NY, Suffolk

HUNTINGTON, NY — Huntington Hospital has achieved two major surgical milestones using advanced robotic technology, becoming the first hospital in New York State to perform a single-port robotic cholecystectomy and the first in Suffolk County to complete a single-port robotic thoracic surgery, hospital officials said Monday.

Both procedures were performed using the da Vinci single-port (SP) robotic platform, a minimally invasive system that allows surgeons to operate through a single small incision, reducing pain and speeding recovery.

The gallbladder removal — the first of its kind in New York — was performed on a 46-year-old woman by Dr. David Buchin, chairman of the department of surgery and director of metabolic and bariatric surgery at Huntington Hospital.

In a separate milestone, Dr. Andrea Carollo, a thoracic surgeon at Huntington Hospital and assistant professor of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University, led Suffolk County’s first robotic-assisted single-port thoracic surgery.

Until recently, the single-port robotic platform had been approved primarily for prostate and urologic procedures. Huntington Hospital is now the only hospital in Suffolk County with the technology, and Northwell Health is among the first health systems nationwide to expand its use into both general and thoracic surgery.

“This single-port robotic approach for cholecystectomy is a game-changer for our patients,” Buchin said. “For a common procedure like gallbladder removal, being able to do it through one tiny incision means significantly less pain, a faster return to daily activities and an almost invisible scar.”

The first thoracic case, performed in November, involved a robotic video-assisted thoracoscopy with an upper left lobe segmentectomy and lymph node dissection on a 69-year-old man with a suspicious lung lesion.

“This technology represents a significant leap forward in thoracic surgery,” Carollo said. “Operating through a single small port gives us enhanced precision and visualization, especially for anatomically challenging lung lesions where traditional biopsies often fall short.”

Hospital officials said regulatory approval now allows Huntington Hospital to expand single-port robotic surgery across additional general and thoracic procedures.

Benefits Of Single-Port Robotic Surgery

According to Northwell Health, single-port robotic surgery offers several patient benefits, including:

• One small incision instead of multiple cuts
• Faster recovery and reduced pain
• Lower narcotic use
• Shorter hospital stays — often same-day or overnight for gallbladder removal and one to two days for thoracic procedures
• Quicker return to work and daily activities

“Pioneering robotic cholecystectomy and bringing single-port thoracic surgery to Suffolk County reflects our commitment to innovation,” said Dr. Nick Fitterman, president of Huntington Hospital. “Our goal is to offer patients the least invasive, most effective procedures available.”