Robotics has taken its place in thoracic surgery since the end of the 20th century. Since then, it has been developed worldwide with many different applications, such as the treatment of mediastinal tumors and lung cancer. Although, the contradictory results comparing this new technology to other minimally invasive techniques may raise some skepticism, the high quality of the instrument and images provided by the robot brings a whole new perspective for the thoracic surgeon, since the robotic platform can ally the ease of movement obtained with open technique with the advantages of the minimally invasive surgery. When it comes to the implementation of a robotic program the costs of RATS are an important issue. However, it is necessary to take into account not only the cost of the robotic platform itself but also the maintenance expenses, disposable tools, and training programs. Nevertheless, the cost of the robotic surgery is expected to decrease in the coming years and like the instrumentation, virtual reality will see improvements. Many different countries around the world have contributed with original articles for the development of the robotic thoracic surgery and in this paper, we aim at describing the global status of the robotic thoracic surgery.
Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a very disabling condition that often affects patients with advanced neoplasm. Conservative approach, repeated thoracentesis, pleurodesis and use of indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) are the main methods to deal with this condition. The ideal treatment must focus on symptom relief and has to take into account patient underlying diseases, performance status and necessity of adequate tissue sample for diagnosis. In a video we show techniques to perform video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) pleural biopsy and talc poudrage pleurodesis.
Robotic thoracic surgery emerged at the beginning of the 21st century and keep presenting the continuous development of its robotic systems, tools, and associated techniques. Strong clinical results including safety and oncological outcomes have fostered the dissemination of the robotic platform all over the world. However, there are still some safety concerns, especially regarding more elaborated procedures as lung resections, during the learning curve. In consequence, training programs for surgeons and surgery residents have been proposed to put into operation a strong and complete curriculum for robotic surgery and increase safety during the learning process. Also, the implementation of the training program makes the process complete and efficient. Lung lobectomies are complex procedures especially because of pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins dissection, which demands quite accurate skills. Consequently, it is believed that specific training of thoracic surgery residents in robotic lobectomy is capital. The ideal curriculum must include technical content and broad psychomotor training using virtual reality models and also physical and animal models. Valid evaluation methods can be used from the first skill training to daily clinical practice. At the beginning as a console surgeon, the resident must initiate gradually with small procedures and progress to more complex surgeries before performing the whole lobectomy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.