Prediction of Basic Robotic Competence for Robotic Visceral Operations Using the O-Score within the "Robotic...

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Robotic Surgery Assessment

Background:

• Surgical residency programs require structured robotic surgery assessments.
• The O-Score is a validated tool for tracking robotic operative proficiency.
• Surgical autonomy is a key metric within robotic surgery skill development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish benchmarks for achieving surgical autonomy in robotic visceral procedures.
• To determine the number of procedures and O-Score sum required for surgical autonomy.
• To assess the feasibility of using the O-Score for routine skill progression monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A single-center prospective pilot cohort study analyzed 273 robotic procedures (2020-2023).
• Bedside and console assistance performances were evaluated separately using the O-Score.
• Inexperienced robotic surgeons were assessed by two robotic experts.

Main Results:

• Surgical autonomy was achieved in 50.9% of bedside assistance cases and 11.3% of console assistance cases.
• Surgical autonomy positively correlated with the O-Score sum for both bedside (p<0.001) and console (p=0.004) assistance.
• Benchmarks for O-Score sum (37-40) and caseload (17-33 procedures) were identified for achieving autonomy.

Conclusions:

• Significant improvements in basic robotic performance were observed.
• Benchmarks for bedside assistance in visceral robotic operations were established.
• The O-Score system is feasible for monitoring robotic operative skills and progression in daily practice.