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Initial Experience With Robotic Liver Resection in the United States
Daisuke Imai1, Masaya Yokoyama1, Yuzuru Sambommatsu
1Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
The American Surgeon
|June 6, 2024
Summary
Robotic liver resection (RLR) is feasible and safe, even without prior laparoscopic experience. This approach offers reduced blood loss and shorter hospital stays compared to open surgery, demonstrating its value in liver cancer treatment.
Area of Science:
- Hepatobiliary surgery
- Minimally invasive surgery
- Surgical oncology
Background:
- Assessing the feasibility and safety of robotic liver resection (RLR).
- Evaluating RLR implementation without extensive prior laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) experience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the feasibility and safety of robotic liver resection (RLR).
- To show that RLR can be adopted without extensive prior laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) experience.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 226 liver resections (open, LLR, RLR) from 2014-2022.
- Propensity score matching for comparison between open liver resection and RLR.
- Analysis of perioperative outcomes and learning curve for RLR.
Main Results:
- RLR adoption increased while LLR decreased over time.
- RLR showed significantly less blood loss and shorter hospital stay than open resection.
- RLR demonstrated comparable outcomes to LLR, even in more complex cases.
Conclusions:
- Robotic liver resection (RLR) is a feasible, safe, and acceptable surgical platform.
- RLR can be safely implemented and disseminated without requiring extensive prior laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) experience.
- A learning curve of approximately 60 cases was identified for RLR.
