The number of robot-assisted surgeries performed in Poland has surged by 70% year-on-year. Most of these procedures are carried out in prostate cancer treatment, but they are also increasingly used in kidney, bladder and gynecological oncology. Doctors emphasize that patients benefit first and foremost — with faster recovery, lower complication risk and shorter hospital stays. The public payer (NFZ) is also incentivizing adoption by reimbursing robotic procedures at higher rates than laparoscopy. However, further growth will require trained surgical teams and wider access beyond major clinical centers.
“Year after year, we see huge growth in the use of surgical robotics in Poland — but we are still far behind global standards,”
says Marcin Bruszewski, CEO of Innovaris, distributor of the Versius surgical robot.
“Not just compared to the US, which plays in a completely different league — but even within Europe. Still, we are catching up — and that’s what matters.”
According to the “Robotic Surgery 2025” report by Modern Healthcare Institute, around 17,100 robot-assisted procedures were performed in Polish hospitals in 2024 — a 70% increase year-on-year.
Urology dominates — prostate surgeries almost fully robotic
The data shows:
- 67% of all robotic procedures are in urology
- 61% are prostate removals (prostatectomies)
- Followed by kidney cancer surgeries and bladder removals (cystectomies)
“99% of prostatectomies we perform are robotic.
For kidney surgeries — around 75% are robotic.
In bladder cancer surgery, last year it was 50/50 — this year robotic is up to 60–65%.
In gynecology — 80–85% of procedures are done using a robot.”
says Lesław Polański, CEO of Urovita Group (Chorzów & Zakopane).
Bruszewski adds that robotics is also quickly gaining ground in general surgery, thoracic surgery, oncology — and is now entering pediatric surgery globally.
Financial incentives and real medical advantages
In 2024, the Polish National Health Fund (NFZ) spent PLN 82 million more reimbursing robotic procedures than it would have under laparoscopic pricing — but sees this as an investment in long-term savings and outcomes.
Over 100 hospitals in Poland already perform robotic surgeries.
The Agency for Health Technology Assessment (AOTMiT) confirms clear benefits:
- 3D, high-resolution surgical field visibility
- Lower risk of tissue damage
- Better access to tight anatomical spaces
- Precise suturing and micro-movements
“Robot-assisted surgery offers major advantages over open and even laparoscopic surgery — precision, visibility, surgeon comfort, and vastly shorter patient recovery,”
notes Dr. Marcin Trzewik, lead robotic surgeon at Urovita.
Patients have overcome their initial fear: “The robot is not operating by itself”
“At the beginning, patients thought the robot operates them autonomously. That anxiety is gone.
They now associate robotic surgery with minimally invasive, faster recovery, and shorter hospital stay — and often ask for it themselves,”
says Polański.
His center performed over 780 robotic procedures in 2024, using two Versius systems — including 401 prostatectomies and 249 gynecological procedures — making it the second most active robotic center in Poland.
The next bottleneck? Not the robots — but the people
Robotic surgery requires extremely high surgical competency:
- strong laparoscopic background first
- dozens — ideally hundreds — of supervised robotic cases
- ability to decide if robotic is appropriate or conversion is needed mid-operation
To address that, a new Robotic Competence Center was opened in Zabrze in October — a collaboration between Silesian University of Technology, Innovaris, Anmar Group and CMR Surgical.
“It’s a unique facility for Central and Eastern Europe.
We will train surgeons and full teams from across the region under the Royal College of Surgeons–accredited 7-stage CMR program,”
says Aleksandra Diyon, Eastern Europe Director at CMR Surgical (manufacturer of Versius).
The challenge now: widening access beyond academic hospitals
Poland now has around 80 surgical robots, but most are concentrated in large university centers, leaving whole regions without access.
“Some regions still have no access to robotic surgery at all — while large academic centers already have the robots, but not enough specialists to operate them.
The problem now is uneven distribution, and that’s exactly what we aim to fix,”
says Bruszewski.
Versius has an advantage — it fits into almost any existing OR, no rebuilds or sterile zone adjustments needed, and runs from a standard electrical outlet. This makes scaling much easier for budget-constrained hospitals.
A $38 billion global market within 10 years
According to Global Market Insights:
- Surgical robotics market value in 2024: $8.1 billion
- 2025 forecast: $9.2 billion
- 2034 projection: $38.4 billion
→ 17% CAGR
