Short- And long-term outcomes of totally robotic versus robotic-assisted right hemicolectomy for colon cancer: A retrospective study

Abstract

Totally robotic right hemicolectomy (TRRH) is a novel alternative surgical method used for the treatment of colon cancer. The aim of this study was to compare both the short-and long-term outcomes of TRRH and robotic-assisted right hemicolectomy (RARH) for the treatment of colon cancer. We performed a 1:2 matched propensity score analysis. We then retrospectively analyzed all procedures (64 cases TRRH and 128 cases RARH) carried out by a single surgeon between December 4, 2014 and June 20, 2018 at a large center. Both short-and longterm surgical outcomes were compared between 2 different groups. Based on the propensity score matching, we selected 64 patients that had undergone TRRH treatment and 128 patients who had undergone RARH treatment. The preoperative clinical-pathological characteristics were well matched between the 2 groups. We observed no significant differences between the 2 groups in postoperative pathological outcomes. The mean operative time was found to be significantly longer in the TRRH group compared to the RARH group (168.2±9.1 minutes vs 153.4±7.4 minutes, P=.034). The mean operative incision length was found to be significantly longer in the TRRH group than in the RARH group (4.5± 0.6cm vs 6.9±1.1cm, P=.023). Postoperative pain score (visual analog scale at day 1) was found to be significantly lower in the TRRH group than in the RARH group (2.9±1.3 vs 4.1±2.1, P=.005). The time to pass flatus was observed to be statistically lower in the TRRH group (P=.042). We observed 3 twists of mesentery in the RARH group, while none were observed in the TRRH group (P