Early Experience With Robotic Approaches to Inflammatory Bowel Disease Surgery: A Single-Center Study

Area of Science:

• Colorectal Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Management

Background:

• Understanding surgical outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is vital for patient consent and decision-making.
• Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is increasingly recommended for IBD interventions.
• Robotic surgery is established in cancer care but less common for IBD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate initial outcomes of robotic minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for IBD.
• To compare 30-day surgical outcomes of robotic IBD surgery with laparoscopic and open approaches.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of prospectively gathered surgical data from a single tertiary center (2020-2023).
• Inclusion of patients over 16 years undergoing IBD surgery.
• Comparison of robotic, laparoscopic, and open approaches using statistical analysis (ANOVA, Tukey's HSD).

Main Results:

• Zero mortality across all surgical approaches.
• Major complication rates: 5.4% (robotic), 8% (laparoscopic), 3.5% (open).
• Readmission rates: 8.10% (robotic), 9.33% (laparoscopic), 21.42% (open).
• Robotic surgery demonstrated equivalent or improved outcomes in most metrics compared to open surgery, with similar procedure times to laparoscopy.
• Robotic procedures were associated with higher costs.

Conclusions:

• Early data indicate robotic colorectal resections for IBD are feasible and safe.
• Robotic surgery outcomes are comparable to laparoscopic and superior to open surgery for IBD in key metrics.
• Increased cost is a factor for robotic surgery in IBD management.