Telesurgical evaluation of stable thoracic trauma patients: a feasibility study

We evaluated a robotic telesurgical platform in managing thoracic trauma in an animal model.

The da Vinci(®) robot was used to evaluate and treat a random number of blinded injuries in ten porcine thoraces.

Ninety-five percent of injuries were correctly identified. The median survey time was 20.5 min (range 16-63 min). The mean time to repair lung lacerations was 19.8 min (range 14-27.5 min) and to evacuate the hemothoraces, it was 5.3 min (range 4.5-6.5 min). Diaphragmatic lacerations required repositioning of the ports and the robot. Only two out of five lacerations were successfully repaired (mean time 38.8 min, range 32.5-45 min). All aortic injuries were correctly identified. One subject died of a pre-existing pneumonia.

A robotic telesurgical approach to the evaluation of stable thoracic trauma patients is safe and feasible in a porcine model. Diaphragmatic injuries can be repaired but require repositioning of the robot.