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10.5005/jp-journals-10033-1332
Laparoscopic vs Robotic Surgery in Colorectal Cases
REVIEW ARTICLE

Laparoscopic vs Robotic Surgery in Colorectal Cases

Shalmali Alva

ABSTRACT where laparoscopy surgery is the new norm. Along with

Minimally invasive techniques have become the new norm in increasing number of surgeons able to handle a variety
the arena of colorectal cases with surgeons preferring lapa- of cases in completely minimally invasive ways, the
roscopic commonly and robotics occasionally and sometimes faster recovery and discharge from hospital set-up have
hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery to deal with a variety of dramatically brought down costs too.
conditions in the colorectal region. Minimally invasive tech-
niques have resulted in better and smaller postoperative scars, Similar to the environment laparoscopy met with
lesser postoperative pain, reduced hospital stay, and resultant in the 1990s, robotics has also met with the contention
faster return to daily activities and work. The aim of this review being put forward about exorbitant costs and lack of
article is to compare the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic adequate trained personnel. As robotics is not being
colorectal surgery and robotic colorectal surgery as also the
cost vs overall benefit of both techniques. The studies have practiced in every surgical center as of now and also
been taken from reputed institutes (both teaching and non- not for every surgical procedure, the appreciation and
teaching) from across the world and have been sourced from uptake of robotics in surgery have been slower. It has
Medline, Cochrane Central, and PubMed which have compared also been noticed that robotics has already made a huge
laparoscopic vs robotic techniques in colorectal cases on
various parameters. impact in urologic and pelvic surgery compared with
The two methods have shown fairly comparable duration of certain other areas. Notably, in urologic and pelvic and
hospital stay and postoperative recovery and places perform- rectal surgeries, robotics has been a boon, as these are
ing higher load of robotics are having cost benefit over open areas with minimal room for surgical manipulation and
surgeries in colorectal cases owing to faster discharge from
hospital comparable to laparoscopic approach. This promising with robotic arms, the surgeon has greatly increased
factor will probably enable further widespread use of robotics degrees of freedom as well as tactile feedback for precise
in colorectal cases. movements. The technological advantages of the robotic
Keywords: Colorectal surgery, Cost vs benefit, Laparoscopic system are a three-dimensional surgical view using a
surgery, Learning curve, Robotic surgery. stable camera platform, fine and free movements of
How to cite this article: Alva S. Laparoscopic vs Robotic the robotic arm in the surgical fields, tremor elimi-
Surgery in Colorectal Cases. World J Lap Surg 2018;11(1):43-47. nation, motion scaling, dexterity, and ambidextrous
1-4
Source of support: Nil capabi lity. Despite tremendous advances in laparos-
copy, there are still persisting limitations. Of late, the
Conflict of interest: None
emergence of robotic-assisted colectomy combines the
advantages of laparoscopic colectomy with advantages
INTRODUCTION of open approach including better body mechanics and
The last two and half decades have seen a rapid and better visualization.
ever-growing presence of minimally invasive surgical Although robotic colorectal surgery has proven to be
techniques in every arena of surgery. When laparoscopy comparable to laparoscopic colorectal surgery in terms
made its advent in the surgical world more than two and of postoperative hospital stay and recovery time, robotic
half decades ago, it met with lot of skepticism about intra- surgery has been studied only on few large-scale studies
operative complications, postoperative complications, yet to conclusively comment on various parameters. 1,2,5-14
reasons for conversion to open surgery, and prohibitive Hence, the use of robotic colorectal surgery will require
cost compared with open surgery. Now, we are in an era further evaluation and widespread use for deliberating
on long-term outcomes. Hence, in this article, we will only
study the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic vs robotic
colorectal surgery (Table 1).
Assistant Professor
Department of General Surgery, Srinivas Institute of Medical Aim
Sciences and Research Centre, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
Corresponding Author: Shalmali Alva, Assistant Professor The aim of this study is to compare laparoscopic colorec-
Department of General Surgery, Srinivas Institute of Medical tal procedures with robotic colorectal procedures, their
Sciences and Research Centre, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India intraoperative advantages, hospital stay, recovery time,
e-mail: shalalva@gmail.com
and cost vs benefit analysis over a short-term course.
World Journal of Laparoscopic Surgery, January-April 2018;11(1):43-47 43