View Larger Image UAMS neurosurgeons, from left, Viktor Palys, M.D., Hector Soriano-Baron, M.D., and Erika Petersen, M.D., pose with the Excelsius GPS robot.
UAMS neurosurgeons, from left, Viktor Palys, M.D., Hector Soriano-Baron, M.D., and Erika Petersen, M.D., pose with the Excelsius GPS robot. Image by Bryan Clifton

UAMS Spine Team Celebrates more than 500 Robotic-Assisted Spine Surgeries

By Linda Satter

| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ spine team gathered Feb. 11 to celebrate the completion of more than 500 robotic spine surgeries.

It is a remarkable achievement, considering that the first robotic spine surgery in Arkansas was performed at UAMS only four and a half years ago, in 2020.

That’s when neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons began using the Excelsius GPS robot to provide minimally invasive yet incredibly precise treatments to correct degenerative conditions and deformities, remove tumors and treat injuries, all while reducing patients’ recovery time. The robot helps surgeons plan the surgery in advance to find the best path for each patient’s anatomy and guides the placement of spinal screws with sub-millimeter accuracy.

Since then, “UAMS has undoubtedly become one of the leading centers for Excelsius GPS robotic spine surgery,” said Charles Milligan of Globus Medical Inc., which makes the robots. “UAMS also serves as a preceptor site, training surgeons from across the country — an achievement only a select few institutions can claim.”

While the Excelsius GPS is reserved for spinal surgeries at UAMS, it isn’t the only robot that UAMS surgeons use in robotic spinal surgeries. UAMS has several types of robots, including Mazor and DaVinci systems, which are used for a variety of surgeries.

Several members of the UAMS Spine Team gather for the celebration.

Several members of the UAMS Spine Team gather for the celebration.Bryan Clifton

Hector Soriano-Baron, M.D., a neurosurgeon who co-directs spine services at UAMS, said the 500 surgeries were performed with a variety of robots. He said the 500th robotic spine surgery occurred in November.

When Soriano-Baron joined UAMS in late 2023, he had already developed a special fondness for the Excelsius robot, which he displayed at the front of the hospital’s Lobby Gallery, where the celebration took place.

After he moved to the United States in 2013 from Mexico City, he worked with Nicholas Theodore, M.D., the robot’s inventor, at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. Soriano-Baron completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the institute during the time that Theodore, a nationally recognized expert in spinal trauma and minimally invasive surgery, was developing the robot.

Running his hand along the robot’s arm, Soriano-Baron talked about being fascinated with the development of the robot. It was FDA-approved for spinal surgery in 2017 and performed its first robotic spinal surgery in 2018. Globus Medical bought the system from Theodore.

Since UAMS introduced robotic spine surgery to Arkansas, “we have moved from not having any robotic spine surgeries to being one of the top robotic surgery providers in the country,” he said.

“We are blazing trails here in Little Rock,” agreed Deanna Sasaki-Adams, M.D., chair of the UAMS Department of Neurosurgery.

Addressing surgeons, residents and operating room staff who stopped by to enjoy boxed lunches and refreshments as part of the lunch-hour celebration, she called for a round of applause for the spine team. It includes neurosurgeons, orthopaedic spine surgeons and operating room staff at the UAMS Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, which sponsored the celebration, and The Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital at UAMS.

UAMS neurosurgeons Hector Soriano-Baron, M.D., and Deanna Sasaki-Adams, M.D., who became chair of the Department of Neurosurgery on March 1, pose like robots.

UAMS neurosurgeons Hector Soriano-Baron, M.D., and Deanna Sasaki-Adams, M.D., who became chair of the Department of Neurosurgery on March 1, pose like robots.Bryan Clifton

Glenn Pait, M.D., director of the Spine Institute, told the crowd that the number of robotic spine surgeries completed at UAMS “shows what teamwork can do.” He predicted it wouldn’t be long before another celebration is held to recognize the 1,000th robotic spine surgery performed at UAMS.

The increasingly innovative technology has made a huge difference, “not just for the 500 lives we have touched through the surgeries,” Soriano-Baron said, “but also for the number of surgeons we have trained.”

He said dozens of surgeons have come to UAMS not only from across the country, but from across the globe, for expert training in robotic spine surgery.