Robotic-assisted bariatric surgery in medical tourism: a retrospective descriptive study

Robotic-assisted bariatric surgery has shown sustained growth in recent years. However, evidence on its performance in the context of medical tourism is limited. This study describes the implementation of a robotic bariatric surgery program in a highly specialized center, analyzing the evolution of operative times and the learning curve of the surgical team. Observational, retrospective, and descriptive study that included all patients undergoing robotic-assisted bariatric surgery between January 2023 and May 2025. Demographic, clinical, and surgical variables were recorded, including total surgery time, docking time, and console time. Comparisons between years were made using ANOVA and Tukey's test, considering p < 0.05 as statistically significant. Ninetyfour cases were analyzed with a mean age of 42.8 (SD: 11.3) years and body mass index of 41.8 (SD: 7.7) kg/m²; 84% were women. Sleeve gastrectomy was the most frequent procedure (56.4%). The average docking, surgery and console times were 7.6 (SD: 3.0), 111.6 (SD: 51.0) and 69.6 (SD: 49.3) minutes, respectively. A significant decrease in docking time was observed over the years (p < 0.001), with no significant differences in surgical or console times. The progressive implementation of bariatric robotic surgery in a context of medical tourism is feasible. During the initial years of experience, a significant reduction in docking time was observed, while console and total operative times did not show statistically significant changes, similar to other international centers.