Robotic Surgery Program Expands to Include Thoracic Procedures
October 30, 2025
JHAH’s thriving robotic program reports another first-of-its-kind surgery for Saudi Arabia.
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) has further expanded its robotic surgery program after completing the first lung procedure of its kind in Saudi Arabia.
The success of this and two other procedures marks the launch of robot-assisted thoracic surgery at JHAH. It means that more patients will benefit from ultra-precise minimally invasive surgery with faster recovery times, less pain and scarring, and a lower risk of complications.
The success of the lung procedure comes after new robotic hernia and rectal surgeries were performed at JHAH earlier this year — respectively, firsts in the Kingdom and in the Eastern Province.
Robotic surgery is an advanced form of minimally invasive or “keyhole” surgery that helps surgeons to conduct procedures faster, and with greater precision and dexterity, than open surgery or even traditional laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery.
“As a thoracic surgeon, you can do almost any procedure in the chest with a robot,” Dr. Medhat Bukhari, a consultant thoracic surgeon at JHAH and the lead surgeon for the lung procedure, explains.
The lung procedure involved a robot-assisted diaphragm plication for left diaphragm paralysis. It was confirmed as the first procedure of its kind in Saudi Arabia by Gulf Medical, the exclusive supplier of the da Vinci surgical robot to healthcare providers in the Kingdom.
The second procedure involved a robot-assisted right upper lobectomy with lymph node dissection. It was only the second time such a procedure had been performed in the Eastern Province. The third procedure, a first for JHAH, involved a robot-assisted bullectomy and pleurectomy for bullous disease of the lung.
All three patients were discharged quickly, enjoyed fast recoveries, and did not suffer any complications, Dr. Bukhari said.
The three surgeries were overseen by Dr. Suha Kaaki, an associate professor at King Saud University, who is an expert in thoracic and upper GI robotic surgery.
JHAH’s robotic surgery program has expanded rapidly since it was founded in 2015. The program is enhanced with expertise from world-renowned robotic surgeons who visit regularly from Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, United States.
JHAH’s surgical robot, the da Vinci Xi, is the busiest in Saudi Arabia, having performed more procedures than any other single system in the Kingdom in the 18 months to June this year.