Surgeon fixes 'near impossible' hernia using robot to help end 25 years of discomfort
A Cairns man has undergone life-changing surgery after 25 years of ongoing treatment, with a multimillion-dollar surgical robot helping to resolve his complex condition.
A local man has received life-changing surgery at Cairns Private Hospital after 25 years of recurring pain and discomfort.
Glenn Lesina, a 70-year-old Cairns resident, had continuously developed internal hernias since the early 2000s, and was forced to live with the recurrent condition for over 25 years.
By 2025, Mr Lesina had undergone surgery for four separate hernias, with each one coming undone and recurring.
With his most recent recurrent hernia, Mr Lesina’s treatment was further complicated by the uniquely difficult positioning, and the fact that surgery had been previously attempted in that position four times already.
His hernia had begun to grow into a majority of his bladder and began pushing into his bowel, causing additional urology problems which added to his ongoing discomfort.
It was not until Mr Lesina was able to see a team of surgeons at Cairns Private Hospital in August of this year that, with the assistance of the da Vinci Xi robot, surgery was successful.
Mr Lesina said that not only was the surgery a success, but the use of the da Vinci Xi robot meant that his recovery period was significantly shorter than previous operations.
“It’s very good, actually, the operation went extremely well,” he said.
“I haven’t had a recurrence of (the hernia, and)... it’s probably the best recovery I’ve had from a surgery.”
The da Vinci Xi Robot, introduced in the Cairns Private Hospital in 2017, is a multimillion-dollar tool that allows for “greater visualisation, greater accuracy, and greater precision”, while remaining minimally invasive.
The system acts as an advanced form of keyhole surgery, allowing surgeons to control the robot from an external console with higher dexterity and mobility in comparison to traditional techniques.
For difficult urological, gynaecological or colorectal cases such as Mr Lesina, the use of surgical robotics can be patients’ only viable option.
Dr Eshwarshanker Jayarajan, the lead surgeon for Mr Lesina’s case, said without the assistance of the surgical robot, he did not believe the surgery would have been successful.
“I genuinely thought that it would be near impossible to perform … without the robot,” he said.
“Using the robot platform allowed us much greater visualisation and precision that traditional surgical techniques wouldn’t have allowed for.”
Dr Jayarajan said that he believes the availability of this technology is imperative in ensuring that Far North Queensland communities are not falling behind their metro counterparts when it comes to both medical access and standard of care.
“More clinicians (in Far North Queensland) now, having … access to robotics allows us to be able to deliver what I believe is the standard of care to regional areas like Cairns.
“Patients can feel confident that they’re getting the same standard of care and the same level of care, even though they’re not in a major metropolitan area.”
Originally published as Surgeon fixes 'near impossible' hernia using robot to help end 25 years of discomfort
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