Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 16, 2025
Laparoscopic Anterior Right Hepatectomy: A Single-Center Experience
Published on: December 4, 2023
Initial experience with robotic-assisted resection for suspected or confirmed gallbladder cancer - comparison with
Hannes Wållgren1, Stefan Gilg1, Christoph Ansorge2
1Division of Surgery and Oncology, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Background And Aim:
Robotic-assisted surgery has become increasingly common and is now the gold standard for many procedures. In hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, it has shown promise but remains insufficiently studied. This study reports our initial experience with robotic-assisted radical cholecystectomy for suspected or confirmed gallbladder cancer. The primary objective was to compare hospital length-of-stay - used as a proxy for functional recovery - between robotic-assisted and open surgery. The secondary objective was to assess surgical quality by comparing the number of retrieved lymph nodes.
Methods:
All patients with suspected or confirmed gallbladder cancer accepted for radical cholecystectomy at Karolinska University Hospital between January 2019 and December 2022 were reviewed. Ninety-five patients were identified; 22 were excluded. Of the remaining 73, 23 underwent robotic-assisted surgery and 50 underwent open surgery.
Results:
Robotic-assisted surgery was associated with shorter hospital stays: a median of four days compared to seven days for open surgery (p < 0.001). The number of retrieved lymph nodes was low in both groups but lower in the robotic group (median 1 vs. 3, p = 0.013). No difference regarding severe complications, readmissions or positive margin resections was found.
Conclusion:
In this single-centre retrospective observational study, robotic-assisted radical cholecystectomy was associated with faster recovery compared to open surgery. To confirm these findings, a multi-centre randomized clinical trial has been initiated (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06246448).
