Robotic rectal cancer surgery: literature review and perspective

Surgical treatment of patients with rectal cancer is challenging. The concept of robotic surgery is attractive and has earned considerable interest after its successful implementation in the fields of urology and gynecology. Recently, robotic surgery for rectal cancer with total mesorectal excision (TME) has also obtained an increasing amount of attention in the colorectal field. In this review, we introduce the commonly performed methods of robotic rectal surgery and discuss results to date and future perspectives.