Robotic-assisted surgery has demonstrated positive results in treating colorectal cancer (CRC) and related surgeries.
A study published in the Journal of Robotic Surgery highlighted this approach’s safety and efficacy as potentially influencing advancing clinical practices.
As a minimally invasive technique, robotic-assisted surgery has emerged as a significant method for CRC treatment.
This follows success in other medical fields, such as laparoscopic and open surgeries.
One system, the Senhance Robotic System developed by Asensus Surgical in Durham, North Carolina, US, has just received FDA approval for colorectal procedures.
Research evaluated the safety and effectiveness of colorectal surgeries performed with the Senhance system at two European hospitals.
The study utilised data from the TransEnterix European Patient Registry for Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Procedures, encompassing surgeries in urology, abdominal, thoracic and gynaecologic fields.
The participating centres included Klaipeda University Hospital in Lithuania and Evangelisches Hospital in Germany.
Patients were eligible if they required colorectal surgery and had no contraindications for laparoscopic procedures.
At the same time, those with life-threatening conditions reducing their life expectancy to under a year were excluded.
The surgeries included three primary types: sigmoid resections, right hemicolectomies and rectal surgeries.
Most procedures utilised three robotic arms and five trocar placements. Metrics such as total surgical time (measured in minutes), console time (time spent by the surgeon operating the robot), and docking time (time for connecting the robot to the trocars) were recorded.
Additionally, adverse events (AEs), perioperative complications, and demographic details of the participants were documented.
Out of 355 robotic-assisted colorectal surgeries included in the study, sigmoid resections accounted for 47.6%, rectal surgeries 34.7%, and right hemicolectomies 17.7%.
Participants had a mean (SD) age of 64.8 (12) years, with 56.9% identifying as female and 37.7% presenting with significant comorbidities.
Key findings included:
- A median (IQR) surgery duration of 147.2 minutes (124.3-183.0)
- A median docking time of 3.4 minutes
- A mean (SD) console time of 83.4 (33.6) minutes.
Results varied between centres, with Wesel reporting shorter surgery durations and docking times (median 132 [range 111.0-168.5] minutes and 3 [range 2.0-4.0] minutes, respectively) compared to Klaipeda (median 165 [range 140.0-200.0] minutes and 4 [range 2.0-7.0] minutes).
However, Wesel showed longer console times (mean 90.2 [32.7] vs 77.7 [34.3] minutes). Notably, 71.8% of procedures resulted in minimal blood loss.
No procedure-related mortalities occurred, though 2.9% required conversions to alternative methods.
Among the 24 reported intra- and postoperative AEs, only one occurred during surgery, unrelated to robotic components.
Documented complications included haemorrhage, hernia, postoperative ileus, anastomotic leakage, stenosis and urinary retention.
Severe AEs were reported in five cases, while mild and moderate events occurred in seven and twelve cases. Notably, 95.8% of these AEs were unrelated to the robotic system, with only one instance deemed potentially linked.
A limitation of the study was the selective approach at the Klaipeda Centre, where patients were carefully screened for robotic surgery eligibility. This may have excluded higher-risk individuals or those with poor health, narrowing the findings’ conclusions.
