Robotic-assisted surgery for colorectal and hepatopancreatobiliary neoplasms
Authors: Langer Daniel , Vočka Michal , Kalvach Jaroslav , Pažin Jaroslav , Ryska Miroslav , Pohnán Radek 
Published: November 2021

Summary: Introduction: The Czech Republic belongs to countries under significant strain due to malignant tumours. Despite the changes introduced in the therapy of gastrointestinal malignancies, radical removal of the tumour holds a crucial position in the mutimodal therapeutic process and is irreplaceable nowadays. From the beginning of the third millennium, minimally invasive surgery of abdominal tumours is being expanded with robotic-assisted procedures. The aim of this paper is to assess the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery in the treatment of colorectal and hepatopancreatobiliary neoplasms and to present the results of a non-randomized study with prospectively collected data from robotically assisted rectal cancer surgeries. Material and method: The authors summarize studies published in the PubMed, EMBASE, Medline and Cochrane Library databases that compare robotic and laparoscopic approaches in the treatment of colorectal and hepatopancreatobiliary malignancies, and present the results of their own non-randomized study. 204 patients with rectal cancer (<15 cm from the anal verge) who underwent robotic-assisted surgery at our department between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020 were included in the study. All demographic, clinical and oncological data were prospectively obtained and analysed. The data were analysed using descriptive statistic methods. Results: 204 patients with rectal cancer of whom 138 were men and 66 were women underwent robotic surgery at our department during the five-year period. In 97 (47.5%) cases the disease was dia­gnosed in an advanced stage (stage III and IV of the TNM classification). 18 patients had synchronous liver metastases and 2 patients had pulmonary metastases at the time of the dia­gnosis. The liver-first approach was indicated in 8 (44.4%) patients, two patients underwent a radical resection of liver lesions together with the primary neoplasm in one surgery. Total mesorectal excision was performed in 136 patients with extraperitoneal disease, partial mesorectal excision was performed in 68 cases. 18 complications were documented. Clinically relevant anastomotic leak requiring intervention occurred in 5 (3.6%) cases. One patient died due to decompensation of chronic toxonutritive liver disease. Local recurrence was documented in 6 patients, half of them underwent radical resection. Conclusion: Surgical therapy holds a crucial position in the treatment of colorectal and hepatopancreatobiliary neoplasms and represents the only potentially curative procedure in multimodal therapy. Robotic-assisted therapy has become a routine therapeutic modality for colorectal and hepatopancreatobiliary malignancies worldwide. Da Vinci assisted surgeries prevail in the surgical treatment of rectal cancer at the authors’ workplace as well as at some foreign centres. Compared to open and laparoscopic resections of rectal carcinoma, robotic-assisted operations achieve the same clinical and oncological results with a lower rate of complications. Key words: robotic surgery – colorectal cancer – liver malignancies – pancreatic carcinoma