About Dr Raji Kooner
Urological surgeon in Sydney who has led and shaped the adoption of robotic urological surgery in Australia since the da Vinci platform first arrived in the country.
Dr Kooner's interest in surgical robotics goes back to 1992. At the American Urological Association annual meeting that year he spent every day at the Intuitive Surgical booth and worked with Mani Menon, an early leader in robotic surgery, on an initial plan to bring the technology to Sydney. That initial plan did not proceed, but interest in the platform remained.
A few years later, through the generosity of donors - with principal donor John Davis behind the effort - the cardiothoracic department at St Vincent's was able to bring a da Vinci robot to the hospital. Dr Kooner was chosen to lead and pioneer the urology robotic program. Substantial preparation went into the first cases: watching training videos, role-playing operations with surgical assistants and nursing staff, and running dummy cases before any patient procedure. Prior laparoscopic experience gave a substantial head-start - a robotic prostatectomy follows the same surgical steps as a laparoscopic one, just with a more sophisticated piece of equipment.
Dr Kooner performed the very first robotic prostatectomy case at the institution1 and went on to perform around 70% of the cases in the first year.2 He has since trained other Australian surgeons and assistants in the technique.
Over 3000 robotic cases have now been performed at the program, with Dr Kooner personally performing a substantial proportion. Published research indicates that surgeons typically need more than 200 cases to reach their learning-curve plateau for robotic prostatectomy;5 Dr Kooner is well beyond that threshold. The main barriers to wider adoption of robotics in Australia have been cost (the platform often depends on hospital donations) and the significant learning curve for any new centre. Dr Kooner acknowledges the role of the cardiothoracic department and the original donors in enabling the program.
A full biography, academic appointments, publications list and curriculum vitae are on rajikooner.com.au. General urological practice information is on urologynsw.com.au.
Prostate - NSW
First robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in New South Wales.1
Adrenal - Australia
First robot-assisted adrenalectomy in Australia.
Kidney - Australia
First robot-assisted nephrectomy for kidney cancer in Australia.1
Pyeloplasty - four arm
First four-arm robot-assisted pyeloplasty for reconstruction of the renal pelvis.6
Hospital affiliations
Dr Kooner operates at two primary hospital campuses and consults across several Sydney and Southern Highlands locations.
St Vincent's Private Hospital Sydney
Home of the robotic urology program. Both the Xi and SP robotic platforms are available at this campus.
Mater Hospital North Sydney
Secondary operating location for robotic urology on the North Shore.