Robotic versus vaginal urogynecologic surgery: a retrospective cohort study of perioperative complications in elderly women.

Objectives: The primary objective was to compare perioperative complications after robotic surgery (RS) versus vaginal surgery (VS) for apical prolapse repair in elderly women. The secondary objectives were to (1) assess whether tools designed to predict surgical morbidity, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), are useful in the elderly urogynecologic population and (2) to classify complications during urogynecologic apical procedures using the Dindo classification system.

Methods: We reviewed medical records of women 65 years or older who underwent RS or VS between March 2006 and April 2011.