A Single-Institution Comparison of Robot-Assisted and Conventional Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgeries

Abstract

There has been ongoing discussion regarding the superiority of robotic laparoscopic surgery (RLS) over conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) in many surgical subspecialties. We therefore sought to elucidate if RLS is associated with more favorable clinical outcomes than CLS among patients who underwent colorectal surgery. Using data from a high-volume single institution in New Jersey, we identified 145 patients who underwent an elective RLS or CLS sigmoid resection for colon cancer or diverticulitis in 2019 and 2020. We analyzed operation time, hospitalization cost, complications, readmissions, reoperations, and lymph node retrieval. Operation time and operation to discharge time were not significantly different among patients undergoing surgery for colon cancer (P > .05), but operation time was found to be longer in diverticulitis patients (P = .03). Additionally, RLS was significantly more costly ($86,003 ± $3520 vs. $68,277 ±$1,168, P < .001) for patients with diverticulitis. Our data demonstrate that the benefit of RLS over CLS in colon resections for diverticulitis and colon cancer is not evident due to the increased costs associated with RLS procedures.

Cost-comparison of robotic versus laparoscopic colorectal resections: a mapped systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies

“…Twelve comparative trials ( 20 - 31 ) and one randomized controlled trial (RCT) ( 19 ) on 16,082 patients were included to conduct this meta-analysis for comparing total cost and operative cost of robotic versus laparoscopic colorectal surgeries, based upon the principles provided by the Cochrane Collaboration. Seven studies were from the USA ( 20 , 22 , 23 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 31 ), two were from Korea ( 19 , 21 ), two were from Italy ( 25 , 27 ), one was from Taiwan region ( 30 ) and one was from Germany ( 24 ). Mean age and gender were also noted in these studies.…”