Hackensack University Medical Center ENT Team Deep in Robotic Surgery Expertise
Innovative ENT surgeons practicing robotic surgery techniques, including single-port procedures
December 18, 2025
Hackensack University Medical Center was among the first hospitals in the world to use the da Vinci SP single-port robotic surgery system for ENT surgery, continuing a tradition of excellence and early adoption of the latest technology.
Hackensack University Medical Center Otolaryngology Chair Brian Benson, M.D., was the first class of ENT surgeons in the nation trained in single-port robotic surgery and has performed robotic procedures since 2014. Robotics in ENT surgery allows significant shifts in accessibility and recovery to remove tumors and treat throat, voice and airway disorders with precision.
For certain ENT procedures, the center’s team of robotics-trained surgeons use single-port robotic technology which allows greater flexibility when performing surgeries in the small and narrow areas of the throat and larynx. The single-port robot has a flexible arm that snakes, allowing throat access that the original rigid-arm robot did not.
Transoral robotic surgery has redefined surgery approaches and positive patient impact for tumors in the throat, tonsils or base of the tongue. Surgeries can now be performed through the mouth without an external incision, avoiding a large open incision in the neck and months of recovery. Hospitalization is typically just one to two days, and patients often eat and drink the day after surgery and experience positive outcomes with less pain, faster recovery and improved quality of life.
Robotic surgery is much less invasive when operating in the bottom of the throat, and eliminates the significant disability, including swallowing and speech problems, that came with prior approaches. Now, patients with a small tumor on the back of the tongue, for instance, can opt for surgery as the primary treatment instead of chemotherapy or radiation, with severe side effects. Transoral robotic surgery often eliminates the need for chemotherapy or radiation along with any entry incision.
The center’s ENT surgeons join oncologists, radiologists and other specialists to review throat and mouth cancer cases collaboratively in weekly/biweekly multidisciplinary conferences with the NCI-designated Hackensack Meridian Health John Theurer Cancer Center.
Dr. Benson notes that while robotic technology completely changes the patient recovery experience, so does the highly specialized and experienced postoperative nursing care ENT patients experience at Hackensack University Medical Center.