Initial Experiences with Robotic-assisted Anatomic Lung Resections at a University Hospital

Robotic-assisted pulmonary lobectomy or segmentectomy can be considered for patients fit for conventional and VATS lobectomy and segmentectomy. We will present our first results of anatomic lung resections in 3-arm-RATS technique at the university hospital of Jena.

Methods and Results: From September 2015 to September 2017 a total of 59 patients underwent robotic assistant thoracic surgery. Five of those were operated bilaterally. Out of those we performed 16 RATS lobectomies and five segmentectomies including systemic lymphadenectomy. Both surgeons who performed the operations where certified by Intuitive Surgical Inc. as well as the surgical assistant working with the three arm technique. The median age was 67 (range: 47–81) and in 74% there were relevant comorbidities. Two patients with anatomic lung resection needed a conversion to open thoracotomy. The intraoperative mortality as well as the 30-day- mortality was 0%. All patients could be discharged within five days after surgery. In all cases we took at least 6 lymph nodes during systematic lymphadenectomy as required by the ESTS.

Conclusion: We address the steep learning curve by taking on easier cases in the beginning. We made sure that the whole team was trained together. Therefore, we were able to start with an anatomic resection safely after a few successfully performed cases. Robotic-assisted thoracic surgery is associated with short in hospital stays, low complication rate and oncological correctness.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).