Single Port Robotic Assisted Sacrocolpopexy: Our Experience With the First 25 Cases

In single-port surgery, the surgeon operates almost exclusively through a single entry point, typically the patient's navel, leaving only a single small scar. The aims of this study were to share some tips and tricks of single-port robotic-assisted sacrocolpopexy and to evaluate the learning curve of mastering the skills to operate this procedure.

This is a retrospective study of the first 25 single-port; robotic-assisted sacrocolpopexy surgeries performed during July to December 2015 at Rambam Health Care Campus by a single surgeon.Primary points of interest included intraoperative bleeding, length of surgery, length of hospitalization, and surgical complications.

The median age was 59 years (range, 35-74); the median "pelvic organ prolapse quantification" stage was 3 (range, 2-4). The median total operative time was 190 minutes (range, 114-308), and console time was 130 minutes (85-261). Comparisons between the first 15 cases and the following 10 cases demonstrated significant decreases in median total operative and console times: 226 minutes (range, 142-308) versus 156 minutes (range, 114-180), and 170 minutes (range, 85-261) versus 115 minutes (range, 90-270), respectively (P < 0.008). There were no intraoperative adverse events. Postoperative adverse events were also rare, including 1 case of small bowel adhesions that required a second laparoscopic surgery for adhesiolysis. After this incident, we peritonalized the mesh in all 13 successive cases; median time was 8 minutes (range, 5-15 minutes).

Single-port robotic-assisted sacrocolpopexy is a feasible procedure with low complication rates, minimal blood loss and postsurgical pain, fast recovery, short hospitalization, and virtually scar-free results. Outcomes of long-term follow-up should be investigated.