A robotic procedure is helping Ohio State doctors get patients back to their normal activities more quickly after surgery. The robotic Whipple surgery is a minimally invasive procedure more frequently used to help pancreatic cancer patients. During the surgery, experts use a robot to remove affected areas in a way that formerly required large abdominal incisions.  The smaller incisions required by the Whipple procedure results in significantly shorter recovery times for patients, according to the OSUCCC – James’ Mary Dillhoff, MD. “The hospital stays of patients are similar to slightly shorter, but they're really feeling better in that two-to-three-week range,” Dillhoff says. “I've had patients go back to work in two weeks, which is unheard of with patients that have had an open operation.”