Robotic surgery, or robot-assisted surgery, has become a divisive issue in the medical sector due to the still lacking store of data proving it to be a safe procedure. (Image: Eulji University Hospital / Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Robotic surgery, or robot-assisted surgery, has become a divisive issue in the medical sector due to the still lacking store of data proving it to be a safe procedure.
The debate, at least pertaining to kidney surgery, may be over, thanks to professor Jeong In-gab and his research team at the Asan Medical Center, whose report, published in the latest issue of JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), revealed that the number of patients who suffered from complications after laparoscopic surgeries and robotic surgeries and the duration of extended stay in the hospital post-surgery were similar.
The report analyzed the cases of 23,753 patients who received nephrectomies (surgical removal of the kidney) from 2003 to 2015. 18,573 underwent a laparoscopic surgical procedure and the remaining 5,180 were given robotic surgery.
In a statement that may raise a few eyebrows, Jeong said, “However, for a partial removal of the kidney and not a nephrectomy, robot-assisted methods may actually be more suitable than traditional procedures.” (Image: Asan Medical Center / Yonhap)
Of the laparoscopic procedure patients, 3.8 percent experienced complications like heart failure and septicaemia (blood poisoning). Nephrectomy patients were typically hospitalized for four days after surgery. Those that exceeded the four-day period among laparoscopic surgery patients amounted to 24.7 percent.
The results for patients of robotic surgery were similar if not minutely better, as 3.5 percent of the recipients experienced complications, and 24.2 percent stayed longer than the usual four-day period.
In a statement that may raise a few eyebrows, Jeong said, “However, for a partial removal of the kidney and not a nephrectomy, robot-assisted methods may actually be more suitable than traditional procedures.”
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
