Early experience of robotic hysterectomy for treatment of benign uterine disease

Abstract

Objectives To demonstrate the initial experience of robotic hysterectomy to treat benign uterine disease at a university hospital in Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to review data from the first twenty patients undergoing robotic hysterectomy at our hospital. The surgeries were performed from November 2013 to August 2014, all of them by the same surgeon. The patients were reviewed for preoperative characteristics, including age, body mass index (BMI), indications for the hysterectomy and previous surgeries. Data of operative times, complications, postoperative pain and length of hospital stay were also collected. Results The total operating room time was 252.9 minutes, while the operative time was 180.7 minutes and the console time was 136.6 minutes. Docking time was 4.2 minutes, and the average undocking time was 1.9 minutes. There was a strong correlation between the operative time and the patient’s BMI (r = 0.670; p = 0.001). The console time had significant correlation with the uterine weight and the patient’s BMI (r = 0.468; p = 0.037). A learning curve was observed during docking and undocking times. Conclusion Despite its high cost, the robotic surgery is gaining more space in gynecological surgery. By the results obtained in our hospital, this surgical proposal proved to be feasible and safe. Our initial experience demonstrated a learning curve in some ways.