Methodist Health System | Methodist Dallas Medical Center | Shine | Summer 2015

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PANCREATIC CANCER
Whip it
with Whipple
Pancreatic cancer has few peers. It’s fast-growing, hard to
detect, and difficult to beat.
But in spite of these challenges, for some patients a surgical
option known as the Whipple has proven effective in the fight to
increase their chances of survival.
“The Whipple involves the removal of the head of the pancreas,
where tumors tend to arise,” explains Alejandro Mejia, MD,
executive program director for organ transplantation for
Methodist Dallas Medical Center. “We then construct a new
route among the pancreas, stomach, and bile duct, so that the
digestive and hormone-producing processes carried out by the
pancreas can continue postsurgery.”
Robotic Whipple — a game changer
Patients who are candidates for a Whipple procedure may want to
ask their physician if they are eligible to undergo the robot-assisted
version of the procedure with the da Vinci® Surgical System.
“A robotic Whipple offers a lot of advantages,” Dr. Mejia
says. “It’s a minimally invasive procedure that requires five small
incisions instead of one large one. That means fewer chances of
complications, less pain and scarring for the patient, and shorter
hospital stays.
“The recovery time for robotic Whipple surgery is also shorter,
which means we don’t have to wait as long to get patients started
on chemotherapy or radiation treatments. That kind of timeline
can have a positive impact on short- and long-term survival rates.”
Even more benefits
“Surgeons can move the da Vinci robot just like they are moving
their own wrist, but with far greater precision,” Dr. Mejia says.
“Additionally, the robotic system provides computerized 3-D
imaging that allows us to view the surgical area and other parts of
the anatomy in ways that aren’t possible with laparoscopic or open
surgery Whipples.”
Dr. Mejia also points out that surgeons are able to sit down
when using the da Vinci robot, something they can’t do when
performing nonrobotic Whipples.
“The Whipple is a complex surgery that typically lasts at least
seven hours,” says Dr. Mejia, who has performed more robotic
Whipple surgeries than any other surgeon in Texas. “A tool like
da Vinci takes a lot of stress off the procedure, both for the doctor
and the patient.”
6 Methodist Dallas Medical Center • ❁ Summer 2015
A case of Whipple success:
A robotic Whipple put Rex
Whitaker on the fast track to
life after pancreatic cancer. You
can read more about Rex’s story
at