Robotic or Laparoscopic Renal Surgery: Pros and Cons

Robotic assistance helps low-volume surgeons deliver better outcomes to their patients

“…[ 9 ] For expert renal surgeons, the LC of RAPN appears to be < 30 cases to attain similar proficiency. [ 10 ] Low-volume surgeon (<7 cases/year) had a comparable complication rate (18.1% vs. 15.9% vs. 16.1%, P = 0.81) as high-volume (15–30 cases/year) and very high-volume (>30 cases/year) surgeons. [ 11 ] Even for a complex procedure such as RARC, an acceptable level of proficiency is reached after 21–30 cases (benchmark OT of <6.5 h; lymph node yield of 20 and <5% positive surgical margin).…”