Robotic Surgery Procedures


The specialty of general surgery involves training to do robotic surgery procedures for all ages of patients and involving many organ systems in the body. Many general surgeons choose to significantly limit their practice, but Dr. Harkins is pleased to continue to provide care to patients of all ages and is happy to consult and advise new patients on a wide range of diseases that affect many organ systems. These diseases may range from benign conditions to cancers. The following list depicts some of these areas:

Robotic Gallbladder Surgery
Gallbladder surgery is one of the most common general surgical procedures over the last hospital visits each year. The removal of the gallbladder is generally performed as a minimally invasive procedure. This can be done either as a laparoscopic cholecystectomy or a robotic cholecystectomy depending on the surgeon’s expertise. This procedure can now easily be done also through a 1 inch incision at the bellybutton. Robotic single site gallbladder surgery provides an excellent cosmetic result for this common surgical problem.

Robotic Hernia Surgery
Around 600,000 inguinal or groin hernia surgeries are performed annually in the United States. Some are carried out by the traditional “open” method despite the known increase risks of recurrence, chronic pain, and infection. Many surgeons prefer to accomplish hernia repairs using a minimally invasive approach. Our surgeons have extensive experience and specialty training in handling hernias of all types using the most advanced robotic technology available.

Robotic Colorectal Surgery
Each year thousands of surgeries are carried out in the United States to treat a number of colon and rectal diseases. Some of the conditions requiring surgery are colorectal cancer, diverticulitis, polyps, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and colonic dysmotility. Surgical treatment to remove all or part of the colon is called a colectomy. This can be done using either the laparoscopic or robotic platform depending on the surgeon’s expertise. Enhanced recovery after surgery, ERAS, is rapidly becoming a standard way of managing patients perioperatively for colon surgery.


  • Diseases of the Gallbladder
  • Hernias of the Abdominal Wall and Groin
  • Diseases of the Colon and Rectum
  • Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Hiatal Hernia, and Achalasia

Best Robotic Surgical Procedures in Houston, TX

In addition to having experience with thousands of open and laparoscopic surgical procedures, Dr. Harkins is now recognized as being one of the top 1% of general surgeons in the world with experience on the latest surgical robotic system, the da Vinci Xi. This system provides an advanced minimally invasive surgical platform to accomplish many of the above procedures in a manner that offers numerous advantages to the patient.