The Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Cancer Institute’s Dr. Robert Scoma has become the first thoracic surgeon in Palm Beach County, and one of the first in South Florida, to complete 1,000 robot-assisted surgeries. Thoracic surgery involves the organs of the chest, as well as the esophagus, the trachea, rib cage, and breastbone.
By completing his first robotic-assisted surgery in 2009, Dr. Scoma has performed more than 100 per year, with 40 already completed in 2023. Most of the procedures have been pulmonary lobectomies (removal of an entire lobe of the lung). Dr. Scoma has also used the da Vinci Surgical System to perform lung wedge resection, mediastinal (area between the lungs) mass resection, thymectomy (removal of the thymus gland), repair of hiatal hernia (part of the stomach pushes into the chest cavity), and other oncological procedures.
With nearly three decades of experience, Dr. Scoma is a board-certified thoracic surgeon, and is also certified in basic, advanced cardiac, and advanced trauma life support. He is an associate fellow with the American College of Surgeons, as well as a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, the Florida Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. His practice includes all aspects of thoracic surgical oncology, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mesothelioma, and mediastinal tumors. He also treats pleural disorders, hernias of the diaphragm, and thoracic outlet syndrome (blood vessels or nerves are compressed in the space between the collarbone and the first rib).
