A CUHK team has introduced a new orthopaedic robotic surgical system, and successfully performed Hong Kong’s first robotic‑assisted pelvic fracture reduction and fixation minimally-invasive surgery. The new system provides geriatric and severely injured patients with a safe and precise treatment option, turning a new page in trauma care.

Pelvic fractures are amongst the most challenging orthopaedic trauma injuries with a high risk of massive bleeding, and can threaten a patient’s life. Due to a rapidly ageing population, fragility fractures of the pelvis have become increasingly common, but operating on these fractures is a highly complex, skill-dependent procedure. Conventional open surgeries are known to carry inherent risks of significant blood loss and soft tissue complications. Many frail elderly patients cannot tolerate major surgery and instead rely on non-surgical treatments, resulting in long-term immobilisation.

Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at CUHK’s Faculty of Medicine Dr Ronald Wong Man-yeung said, “By introducing an advanced orthopaedic robotic system, we can typically perform safe, precise and minimally invasive robotic-assisted pelvic fracture reduction, paving the way for fixation.” After mapping out fracture reduction and fixation strategies using three-dimensional CT scans, the new robotic system uses real-time 3D navigation data to guide the active robotic arm during realignments of fractures. This approach provides a minimally invasive alternative to conventional techniques, while aiming to enhance surgical precision and optimise patient recovery.

The CUHK orthopaedic team successfully treated its first pelvic fracture case in Hong Kong using the new surgical robotic technology in June this year. Since then, the team has completed three cases at the Prince of Wales Hospital with minimal surgical blood loss and trauma. The novel surgery reduced patient bleeding by up to 90%, and minimised the scale of the incisions needed for surgery, lowering post-operative pain and decreasing the overall risk of infection. The initial post-operative recovery for these patients is promising.

S.H. Ho Professor of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Professor Patrick Yung Shu-hang stated, “We are deeply grateful for the generous donation that brought this advanced orthopaedic robotic surgical system to CUHK. Following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last year with our robotic innovation partner and Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, the national orthopaedic medical centre, we have also established a vital framework for ongoing collaborations. Our team looks forward to driving the development of next-generation, artificial intelligence (AI)-integrated robotic technologies.”