Competency, Proficiency, and Mastery: Learning Curves for Robotic Distal Pancreatectomy at 16 International Expert Centers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the different phases of the learning curve for robotic distal pancreatectomy (RDP) in international expert centers.

Summary Background Data: RDP is an emerging minimally invasive approach; however, only limited, mostly single center data are available on its safe implementation, including the learning curve.

Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing elective RDP from 16 expert centers across three continents were included to assess the learning curve.

IRON: A retrospective international multicenter study on robotic versus laparoscopic versus open approach in gallbladder cancer.

Objective: For patients with T1b gallbladder cancer or greater, an adequate lymphadenectomy should include at least 6 nodes. Studies comparing short- and long-term outcomes of the open approach with those of laparoscopy and robotic approaches are limited, with small sample sizes, and there are none comparing laparoscopic and robotic approaches. This study compared patients who underwent robotic, laparoscopic, and open resection of gallbladder cancer, evaluating short- and long-term outcomes.

Conversion to open surgery in obese patients undergoing minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy: results from a multicenter analysis.

Background: Although minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy (MIDP) is considered a standard approach it still presents a non-negligible rate of conversion to open that is mainly related to some difficulty factors, as obesity. The aim of this study is to analyze the preoperative factors associated with conversion in obese patients with MIDP.

Methods: In this multicenter study, all obese patients who underwent MIDP at 18 international expert centers were included.

Heat conduction in live tissue during radiofrequency electrosurgery.

In this paper, we propose a method to model radiofrequency electrosurgery to capture the phenomena at higher temperatures and present the methods for parameter estimation. Experimental data taken from our surgical trials performed on porcine liver show that a non-Fourier Maxwell-Cattaneo-type model can be suitable for this application when used in combination with an Arrhenius-type model that approximates the energy dissipation in physical and chemical reactions. The resulting model structure has the advantage of higher accuracy than existing ones, while reducing the computation time required.