Study About Robotic Surgery Published in Obesity Surgery

Last week I heard from the journal Obesity Surgery that a study I have been working on for nearly 3 years was just published. The article name is Robot -Assisted Versus Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass; Comparison of Short Term Outcomes. I would like to share its findings with you.

I compared the short term outcomes of my first 100 gastric bypass operations I performed with the use of the da Vinci surgical robot with 100 gastric bypasses I performed using the more traditional laparoscopic approach. The patients in both groups were very similar in age and weight and most of their medical problems. There was no mortality in either group and complications were low in both groups as well.

I found that there were two major differences that were statistically significant; 1). shorter hospital stay and 2).less bleeding when the robot was used.

• 60% of the patients in the robot assisted group were discharged form the hospital after only one night stay compared to only 4% of patients in the laparoscopic group
• Fewer patients in robot assisted group (2 vs 6) required blood transfusion compared to the laparoscopic group

I believe the reason patients left the hospital earlier after a robot assisted operaion is they had less pain because the incisions were overall smaller and the robot "pushes" less on the abdominal wall. I suspect the reason there was less bleeding was because the connection between the gastric pouch and the small intestine was created with a robot assisted hand sewn approach instead of a circular stapling device. In fact no patient in the robot assisted group had gastrointestinal bleeding.

Although it took time for me to become comfortable with the da Vinci surgical robot, I am convinced this is a superior approach for me.

• I see better with the 3-D high definition view
• The instruments have tiny "wrists" that provide much easier and more precise sewing
• I am more comfortable doing the operation while sitting at the console a few feet away from the operating table instead of standing to do the operations

I prefer using the robot for nearly all of my bariatric surgery cases including both gastric bypass operations and gastric sleeve operations. It is especially helpful when a patient requires a revision of a previously performed bariatric operation.

If you want to view the full article please click on the link below. It should be available there for at least a few more weeks.

http://www.springer.com/home?SGWID=0-0-1003-0-0&aqId=2439249&download=1&checkval=e6832a360938861a0cec2c23c8c2fa7a