Viennese surgeons operate using the "Da Vinci" robotic system - It has not yet arrived in Belgrade, despite the information that it was purchased a long time ago

At the Floridsdorf Clinic in Vienna, Austria, surgeons have been using the "Da Vinci" robotic surgical system since this February. So far, close to 200 minimally invasive surgical interventions in the field of general, thoracic and gynecological surgery have been performed at this clinic with the help of the robot assistant. In early 2022, some Serbian media reported that this robot was acquired for the University Clinical Center of Serbia, but as this institution has confirmed to eKapija - this technology is still not available.

When using the "Da Vinci" robotic surgical system, the surgeon observes the entire process through a "console" where he has a magnified 3D HD view of everything that is happening. Surgeons cannot have such a visualization during a classic surgery. The overall feeling is, as the surgeons of the Vienna clinic explain, as if they are "inside the patient" and can perform significantly more delicate maneuvers with much greater precision.

Through the console, the surgeon starts and directs the machine that performs all the work, but it is actually the man who is still the "master" in the room. The robot does not think, it only follows given commands, but its performance capabilities many times exceed those of humans. The "Da Vinci" robotic surgical system has four "arms" that can freely move and rotate up to 540 degrees, in directions that human hands cannot.

- I would not go back to the laparoscopic mode of operation, because this way, the field of view is magnificent - you can see tissues and identify anatomical structures very easily. Also, the advantages for the patient are multiple: there is less trauma, and the recovery is much faster - surgeon Wolfgang Ocensky says and adds that training is the most difficult part of this process.

The training starts on the simulator, on which you need to spend at least 40 hours, then you proceed to work with a mentor, followed by simpler surgeries and finally more complex procedures.


Surgeon Teodor Kapitanov is one of the four surgeons of the Vienna Clinic who perform operations with the help of the "Da Vinci" robotic system.


We allegedly bought the robot back in 2022.

Although in 2022, certain Serbian media reported that this robot was acquired for the University Clinical Center of Serbia, representatives of this institution state for eKapija that this technology is not available for now.

- There is no "Da Vinci" robotic surgical system at the Clinical Center of Serbia, but efforts are being made to obtain this technology - say the UCC of Serbia.

We tried to get an answer to the question of whether this technology exists in any of the clinical centers in Serbia from the Ministry of Health, but we did not get a response prior to the publication of the text.

The "Da Vinci" system has been in use since 2000. It consists of a robot with three or four arms that surgeons control via a computer system, at a distance from the patient. One robotic arm has a camera that allows surgeons to observe the surgery, and the other is equipped with small surgical instruments.

I. Zikic

Ministarstvo zdravlja Republike Srbije

Klinički centar Srbije Beograd

Ministry of Health

University Clinical Center of Serbia

Floridsdorf Clinic in Vienna

Teodor Kapitanov

Wolfgang Ocenski

Da Vinci

robotic system

robots