World's first report of sigmoidectomy for sigmoid cancer using the Saroa surgical system with tactile feedback

Increasing evidence based on the safety and benefits of robot-assisted surgery indicates the disadvantage of the lack of tactile feedback. A lack of tactile feedback increases the risk of intraoperative complications, prolongs operative times, and delays the learning curve. A 40-year-old female patient presented to our hospital with a positive fecal occult blood test. A colonoscopy revealed type 2 advanced cancer of the sigmoid colon, and histological examination showed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed a tumor in the sigmoid colon and several swollen lymph nodes in the colonic mesentery without distant metastases. The patient was diagnosed with cStage IIIb (cT3N1bM0) sigmoid cancer and underwent sigmoidectomy using the Saroa Surgical System, which was developed by RIVERFIELD, a venture company at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Based on adequate simulation, surgery was safely performed with appropriate port placement and arm base-angle adjustment. The operating time was 176 min, with a console time of 116 min and 0 ml blood loss. The patient was discharged 6 days postoperatively without complications. The pathological diagnosis was adenocarcinoma, tub1, tub2, pT2N1bM0, and pStage IIIa. Herein, we report the world's first surgery for sigmoid cancer using the Saroa Surgical System with tactile feedback in which a safe and appropriate oncological surgery was performed.