Robotic surgery in gynecologic oncology: evolution of a new surgical paradigm

Robotic surgical platforms were first developed with telesurgery in mind. Conceptualized by NASA and the military to provide surgical expertise to remote locations, some telesurgical success has been documented, but progress has been held back by communication bandwidth limitations. Telepresence surgery, where the surgeon is in proximity to the patient but is provided with an ergonomic console equipped with three-dimensional vision and autonomous control of wristed laparoscopic surgical instruments and energy sources, has shown efficacy first in cardiac and then urologic cancer surgery. Interest is currently focused on the application of this technology in the field of gynecology, with techniques being described to perform simple hysterectomy, myomectomy, tubal anastomosis, and pelvic reconstruction procedures. This article will review the application of robotic- and computer-assisted surgery in the specialty of gynecologic oncology.