A safe, reliable, and efficient robot-assisted port site closure for robot-assisted gastrectomy

The overall incidence of port site hernias in laparoscopy and robot-assisted surgeries ranges from 0% to 5.2%. Sufficient port site closure is essential to reduce and prevent the occurrence of port site hernia. However, complete fascial closure of 8-mm robot-port site appears to be difficult. In this study, we propose a safe and reliable robot-assisted port-site closure for robot-assisted gastrectomy.

The robotic arm was tilted 60-70° cranially or caudally to create a small gap between the port and the skin margin that was cut open for port insertion. While viewing through the robotic camera and grasping the polydioxanone (PDS) thread, the Lapa-Her-Closure was inserted into the peritoneal cavity through the gap. The Lapa-Her-Closure was removed after the PDS thread was grasped with robotic forceps. Subsequently, the Lapa-Her-Closure was inserted into the abdominal cavity by tilting the arm cranially or caudally, in contrast to the previous step. The PDS thread was inserted into the loop wire using robotic forceps. After tightening the loop wire and grasping the PDS thread, the Lapa-Her-Closure was removed, and the PDS thread was ligated to complete the abdominal wall closure, with total closure of the fascia and peritoneum.

We utilized this port site closure technique in 12 patients who underwent robot-assisted gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The procedure was accomplished safely and efficiently in all cases without any technical problems. In conclusion, our port site closure is safe, reliable, and efficient procedure that can be performed using basic surgical techniques.