Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 21, 2025
12:45
Robot-assisted Total Mesorectal Excision and Lateral Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection for Locally Advanced Middle-low Rectal Cancer
Published on: February 12, 2022
5.9K
The current status of robotic colorectal surgery training programmes.
Deena Harji1,2, Fergus Houston3, Joshua Burke4,5
1Department of Colorectal Surgery, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK. deena.harji@mft.nhs.uk.
Journal of Robotic Surgery
|June 3, 2022
Summary
Structured robotic training for colorectal surgery is increasing. This review found common training elements but limited objective assessment, highlighting a need for standardized metrics to ensure surgeon competence.
Area of Science:
- Surgical Education
- Robotics in Medicine
- Colorectal Surgery
Background:
- Robotic-assisted colorectal surgery (RACS) is experiencing significant growth.
- Standardized training is crucial for maintaining high clinical outcomes in RACS.
- This review assesses current RACS training programs' structure and assessment methods.
Approach:
- A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines.
- Searches covered Ovid Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases (2000-2021).
- Included studies reported on training curricula and assessment metrics for RACS.
Key Points:
- All 13 identified programs utilized the da Vinci platform.
- Common training components included theoretical knowledge, observation, simulation, and proctored training.
- Robotic skills assessment primarily occurred during simulation and proctoring phases.
Conclusions:
- While core multimodal training components are consistent, objective assessment methods are limited and variable.
- There is a need for standardized, validated assessment metrics to ensure reproducible progression criteria.
- Standardization is essential for robustly evaluating surgeon competence in RACS.
