Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital completes 100th Robotic-Assisted Bronchoscopy

Robotic Bronchoscopy_Kish

DEKALB, IL — Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital recently celebrated a milestone – its 100^th robotic-assisted bronchoscopy surgery. In the innovative procedure, a surgeon takes biopsies of the lung, and a pathologist is present in the room during the procedure. They can diagnose lung cancer in real time. 

Robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is a game-changer for patients in DeKalb and the surrounding communities. The high-tech option is less invasive for patients needing a lung biopsy. Physicians can access the harder-to-reach nodules in the peripheral lung more quickly and safely. Most lung nodules, about 70 percent, are in the peripheral lung, or outer regions of the lung.  

“It’s incredibly stressful for patients to wait for biopsy results. To be able to minimally acquire a tissue sample and analyze rapidly, we can not only ease some of that anxiety for patients, but we can also swiftly get them to treatment,” says Daniel Coomes, DO, an interventional pulmonologist at the Canning Thoracic Institute at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital.

For the procedure, 3D and specialized software is used to chart out a path to the area of concern in a patient's lung. During the bronchoscopy, Coomes uses a controller to navigate a 3.5 mm catheter, which can move 180 degrees in any direction, to the target. Computer-guided navigation and a camera probe provide the physician a real-time view of the lung.  When the nodule is reached, the catheter locks on. Sensors hold it in place as the lungs fill and deflate with each breath. Tissue samples are removed for biopsy. With the tools, an interventional pulmonologist can mark the nodule with a fluorescent dye. This can help a surgeon to remove as little lung tissue as possible in the future.

Nick and Susan Brenkus

"Catching the cancer so early was a blessing”

For Nick Brenkus of Gilberts, Ill., the robotic-assisted bronchoscopy was a smooth procedure that helped him get his cancer diagnosis early - making it easier to fight. For three years, Dr. Coomes had monitored a small spot shown on CT imaging of Brenkus’s lung. When it began to grow, he recommended the robotic-assisted bronchoscopy. 

“Quite honestly, he doesn't really remember too much about [the procedure] because it was so easy and so painless,” Nick’s wife, Susan, recalled. “He went in that morning. Dr. Coomes did the bronchoscopy. He was there for maybe another hour in recovery in Kishwaukee. Dr. Coomes said, ‘You know, you might end up with a sore throat or a little achiness,’ but he came home and the next day was back to Nick.”

The biopsy taken during the procedure showed Brenkus had stage one adenocarcinoma, the most common subtype of lung cancer. With a family history of cancer, Nick knew that catching cancer in stage one meant the cancer is small and had not spread to other parts of the body, meaning it was more favorable to treat. 

Because they caught it so early, he was able to have the cancer surgically removed by Northwestern Medicine thoracic surgeon Andrew Arndt, MD. The 76-year-old was able to avoid chemo or radiation because of it. 

“Any of the follow-ups since the surgery have all been good,” Brenkus shared. 

“The fact that Dr. Coomes saw this early on and continued to keep an eye on it really helped with identifying the issue soon enough that we caught this so early. That is a blessing,” Brenkus’ wife Susan said.