Robot Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery for Aortoiliac Disease: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Robotic systems have been used to overcome the technical difficulties in laparoscopic aortoiliac surgery. In this chapter the outcomes of clinical and experimental studies using a robotic surgical system for treatment of aortoiliac disease are reviewed. MethodsA computerized search was conducted in the medical databases Medline (from January 2000 to July 2007), Embase (from January 2000 to July 2007) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Operative times, ICU-stay, clamping time, blood loss, anastomosis time, time to resume to solids, hospital stay, mortality and conversion rates were described. Experimental studies reporting on the creation of an aortic anastomosis with the robotic system were included. ResultsExperimental studies on vascular anastomoses showed equal results when compared to laparoscopy using the Zeus system, whereas the da Vinci robot showed better anastomosistimes and more precise anastomoses when compared to laparoscopic surgery. Five clinical studies were identified, with in total 70 patients. Operative time varied from 188 to 480 minutes, anastomosis time was 27 to 40.8 minutes. Total hospital stay differed between 4 and 7.3 days. An overall conversion rate of 7 (10%) was reported.