Outcomes of Robot Assisted Trans Abdominal Retromuscular Umbilical Prosthesis (rTARUP): A Dutch Multicenter Study

Robotic assisted Trans Abdominal Retromuscular Umbilical Prosthesis (rTARUP) is being increasingly performed to treat Ventral Hernia. Prospective (long-term) studies are scarce. In this study we investigated 125 patients with short and long-term follow-up, regarding surgical and hernia-related quality-of-life outcomes.

Patients undergoing rTARUP were selected from consecutive prospectively collected databases from two teaching hospitals from the Netherlands. The patients were operated by experienced surgeons in a standardized manner. Patient characteristics and short-term outcomes after surgery were retrospectively reviewed and follow up data about hernia recurrence and quality of life was prospectively collected.

125 rTARUP patients were included for analysis. The most common hernia type was primary (n = 61), followed by recurrent (n = 37) and incisional (n = 27). The median surgical time was 90 min. 44/61 (72%) patients with a primary ventral hernia were treated as daycase. The 30-day complication rate was 7.2%. Median follow up was 24 months after which a large majority of patients (84%) reported to feel better or much better. There were 3 reoperations for recurrences (2.4%).

rTARUP is a safe and effective procedure that can be performed in a timely manner, with short hospital stay and a low complication rate. Further research is needed into economical costs and benefits to fully justify the use of robotic surgery for these indications.