Perception of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) among medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Robotic surgery, also known as robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), involves a camera and a small surgical instrument attached to a robotic arm. A trained surgeon operates the robot from a viewing screen while being in the same room.

This review was prepared following Cochrane collaboration guidelines and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Two authors independently searched and appraised the studies published in PubMed, cumulative index to nursing and allied health literature (CINAHL), Embase, Clinical Key, and Google Scholar. Pooled data analyzed and reported in RevMan software version-5.4.

This systematic review and meta-analysis comprised 1400 medical students, from 8 studies. The participants' age ranged from 23 to 49 years. Similarly, the sample size ranged from 25 and 300. The pooled prevalence of the existing studies revealed that 29.8% of medical students, were favorable towards RAS. Effect size (ES), 95% confidence intervals (CI) and heterogeneity (I²) [ES = 29.8, 95% CI 16.4-43.2, I² = 95.1%, P < 0.00]. About 40% of Australian medical students' positive opinion on RAS [ES = 40.4, 95% CI 25.7-55.2]. Similarly, 34.2% of students from Saudi Arabia [ES = 29.8, 95% CI 22.4-90.8, I² = 99.3%, P < 0.00], 27.8% students from Canada [ES = 27.8, 95% CI 15.9-39.6], 24.8% from USA [ES = 24.8, 95% CI 6.9-42.7, I² = 77.3%, P < 0.00] and 24% [ES = 24, 95% CI 18-30] from India favorable towards RAS.

Medical students from developed nations display favorable attitudes towards RAS. However, implementing of revised curriculum at the beginning of the graduation level sparks medical students' attitude towards robotic surgery.