Robotic surgery is the latest development in minimal invasive surgery. It provides superior visualisation and dexterity and therefore allows the surgeon to perform complex tasks that would exceed his/her abilities with conventional laparoscopy and would be associated with an increased morbidity if performed by laparotomy. Current evidence demonstrates the feasibility and safety of this technology in gynaecology.
Robot assisted surgery can overcome many of the difficulties posed by laparoscopic surgery in gynaecological procedures.
The main advantages of the robotic surgery are that the surgeon can control the endoscope using the operating arms and foot and pedal and is not reliant on an assistant. There are different sensitivity settings on the console enabling the surgeon to choose the degree of movement of the instrument and the surgeon is seated with their arms rested lowering surgeon fatigue. This results in higher precision and lowered morbidity.
A recent review of hysterectomies compared operations conducted by robotic surgery and laparoscopic surgery. The results showed that robotic surgery was quicker, reduced the hospital stay of the patient and resulted in less blood loss.
In addition, oncology surgery would also benefit from robot assisted surgery. A previous study also showed that blood loss was reduced in robotic surgery in comparison to open and laparoscopic surgery.
The Da Vinci Surgical system (robot) is used to perform the followings minimally invasive surgical procedures in gynecology:
- Hysterectomy
- Myomectomy
- Gynae Cancers
- Benign Conditions like Endometriotic Cyst of the Ovary and Dermoid Cyst
- Infertility / Tubal block surgery
- Fallopian Tube Reversal Recanalization
- Utero - Vaginal Prolapse correction