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da Vinci Surgical System Fast Facts

  • The da Vinci Surgical System was introduced in 1999 by Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
  • In 2000, the da Vinci Surgical System became the first robotic surgical platform commercially available in the United States to be cleared by the FDA for use in general laparoscopic surgery.
  • The first da Vinci prostatectomy in the world was performed in May 2000 in Frankfurt, German. The first da Vinci prostatectomy in the United States was performed in November 2000 in Richmond, Virginia.
  • Today, there are more than 1,700 da Vinci Systems installed in hospitals worldwide.
  • More than 775,000 patients worldwide have had a da Vinci procedure.
  • Da Vinci procedures are now routinely performed for a wide range of conditions in specialties including cardiac, urologic, gynecologic, pediatric and general surgery.
  • Roughly three out of four prostate cancer surgeries in the U.S. today are performed using da Vinci Surgery. More U.S. men choose da Vinci Surgery to treat their prostate cancer than any other treatment.1
  • More women now choose da Vinci surgery for minimally invasive hysterectomy than conventional laparoscopy or vaginal surgery.2
  • Recent studies found that when comparing surgical removal of the prostate to radiation, surgery had the lowest cancer death rate.3,4
  • 86% of urology residency programs in the U.S. have a da Vinci System. All 42 gynecologic oncology fellowship programs in the US. have a da Vinci System.
  • Based on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals 2009” ranking, 100% of the top ranked hospitals in the United States own at least one da Vinci Surgical System and 100% of the top ranked cancer hospitals own at least one da Vinci System.

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    1 Claim based on 2008 U.S. data. Data on file at Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
    2 Claim based on 2011 U.S. data. Data on file at Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
    3 Zelefsky, M.J., Eastham, J.A., Cronin, A.M., Fuks, Z., Zhang, Z., Yamada, Y., Vickers, A., Scardino, P.T. Metastasis after radical prostatectomy or external beam radiotherapy for patients with clinically localized prostate cancer: a comparison of clinical cohorts adjusted for case mix. (2010) Journal of Clinical Oncology, 28 (9), pp. 1508-1513.
    4 Cooperberg, M.R., Vickers, A.J., Broering, J.M. and Carroll, P.R. (2010), Comparative risk-adjusted mortality outcomes after primary surgery, radiotherapy, or androgen-deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer. Cancer, 116: 5226-5234. doi: 10.1002/cncr.25456.