Introduction: The purpose of the present study was to review the existing evidence on obese patients treated with either robotic or laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, in order to compare the clinical and perioperative outcomes of the two methods.
Evidence acquisition: A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane library and Scopus databases.
Evidence synthesis: Sixteen studies were included in the present review and incorporated 29,787 patients. RSG technique was associated with significantly increased mean operative time and length of hospital stay. Postoperative incidence of leakage, bleeding, wound infection and excess weight reduction were comparable between the two groups. The majority of the studies assessing cost found higher charges in RSG population.
Conclusions: Newer randomized controlled trials, comparing RSG to LSG, are necessary in order to further assess their clinical outcomes in relation to cost.