Intuitive Surgical: +31%
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) continued to build on its da Vinci robot-assisted surgery business during 2018, shipping 636 units in the first 10 months. In all of 2017, it shipped 684.
In June, it announced 510(k) clearance for a new indication for its da Vinci SP robot-assisted surgery device and revealed plans to pursue other indications for the single-port device. Initially cleared in April 2014 for urological procedures, the da Vinci SP’s newest indication is for procedures requiring very narrow access from a single small incision. Intuitive said it plans to ask the FDA to clear transoral, transanal and extraperitoneal applications for the SP device.
The surgical robotics giant also touted the results of a 1,254-patient study showing that patients who underwent robotic-assisted surgery using the da Vinci system to repair an inguinal hernia had fewer complications after 30 days compared to patients who had open surgery. None of the patients in the robotic-assisted surgery group returned for reoperations related to the inguinal hernia repair procedure after 30 days. In contrast, five patients who received open surgery needed reoperations.