Landmark Robot-Assisted Bronchoscopy Program Surpasses 700 Procedures

The VA’s Interventional Pulmonary program has achieved a landmark milestone surpassing 700 robotic-assisted bronchoscopy procedures for Veterans throughout the system’s catchment area. Robot-assisted bronchoscopy is an advancement in navigational bronchoscopy, a procedure used to biopsy lung nodules to detect the presence of lung cancer and other lung diseases.

With lung cancer being the third most common form of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, the ability of the VA to provide this diagnostic procedure to our Veterans has been monumental. Robot-assisted bronchoscopy is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure that enables VA doctors to biopsy smaller lung nodules further in the periphery of the lung, something impossible before the implantation of the robot-assisted bronchoscopy. The improved accuracy of a diagnosis allows treatment to begin much sooner, which often leads to a better prognosis. 

“We are the leading VA robotic diagnostic program in the nation and second largest VA therapeutic surgical robot program in the nation,” said Dr. Bianka Eperjesiova, Director of Interventional Pulmonology. “We screen 15,000 Veterans at risk for lung cancer from NF/SGVHS, every year.”

Dr. Peruvemba Sriram, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Chief, alongside Malcom Randall’s executive leadership team, had a vision for this robotic program well before 2022. Through committed efforts and coordination amongst multiple departments, the program is currently performing 8-12 robotic bronchoscopy procedures every week and recently successfully completed their 700th procedure. 

The Interventional Pulmonary team has consistently maintained diagnostic yields higher than the national average and lower complication rates than the national average resulting in same day discharges, while utilizing the ION robotic platform. In the past year we have had the privilege of mentoring many newly launched VA robotic programs nationwide and positively impacted the Veteran population across the United States.

The Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division continues to innovate the way care is delivered after recently acquiring a robot-integrated mobile cone beam computerized tomography (CT) unit. This additional advancement will allow the procedures to achieve near 100% diagnostic rate in a fraction of a time, and will soon be utilized in delivering targeted local non-thermal lung tumor ablative therapies in clinical trials available at the VA.

During a recent visit to NF/SGVHS, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Hon. Denis McDonough, was able to get a first-hand look and demonstration of the robot-assisted bronchoscopy equipment. McDonough’s visit culminated in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division to highlight the innovation that NF/SGVHS has established with the goal to continue to expand and provide even more healthcare options for Veterans.

“Our efforts are not done yet, and we are truly excited for the future in our fight against lung cancer in the Veteran community,” continued Dr. Eperjesiova.

Malcom Randall VA Medical Center Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine staff will continue to strive to perform as many procedures as possible utilizing the most up-to-date techniques and cutting-edge technology while delivering the highest quality of care to NF/SG Veterans.

 For more information on the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, please visit VA North Florida/South Georgia Health Care | Veterans Affairs