Background: Uniportal robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (uRATS) has emerged as a promising technique with potential advantages over multiportal approaches. This study aims to evaluate our initial outcomes of uRATS.
Material and methods: Five patients underwent anatomic lung resections with systematic nodal dissection through a uniportal robotic approach by one surgeon. The results were compared to the results of the first five uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (uVATS) anatomical resections performed by the same surgeon.
Results: No adverse events occurred during the uRATS-procedures. Comparable surgical outcomes were observed between uRATS and uVATS, including hospital stays, complication rates, and blood loss. The average procedural time was slightly but non-significantly longer in the uRATS-group. Average pain-scores were lower in the uRATS group. One patient in each group experienced major postoperative complications, with one case of in-hospital mortality in the uRATS-group.
Conclusion: The outcomes of uRATS/uVATS were comparable, highlighting the potential and the feasibility of this technique. Prospective studies comparing the learning curves, complication rate and hospital-stay are required in order to justify the superiority of robotics over uVATS.
Keywords: anatomical lung resections; robotic surgery; uniportal.
© 2023 The Authors. The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.