Comparison of robotic-assisted surgery outcomes with laparotomy for endometrial cancer staging in Turkey.

Purpose: To compare the results of patients on whom staging was applied by robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery and laparotomy for endometrial cancer.

Method: The study included 10 patients who had undergone robotic-assisted endometrial staging (group 1) and 12 patients staged by open surgery (group 2). Demographical characteristics and operative outcomes of all patients were compared. Body mass index, age, previous abdominal surgeries, histopathologic characteristics, performed operative procedure, operation time, complications, hospitalization duration, estimated blood loss and number of resected lymph nodes were recorded for all patients.

Results: Mean age of the patients in the robotic surgery group was 55.7 years (37-66) and in the laparotomy group 56.4 years (47-75). Body mass index was calculated as 32.7 kg/m² (24.5-40.3) in group 1 and 30.3 kg/m² (25.9-35.8) in group 2. Total duration of operation was 234.6 min (137-300) and 168.5 min (102-232) in group 1 and 2, respectively. Mean duration of hospitalization in group 1 was 2.8 days (2-5) and in group 2 was 8.8 days (6-13). Estimates of blood loss were 95 ml (20-210 ml) in the robotic surgery group and 255 ml (80-420) in the other group. The mean number of resected lymph nodes was 42 (13-86) and 46.5 (26-107) in the robotic-assisted surgery group and laparotomy group, respectively. None of the cases in the robotic-assisted endometrial staging group required transition to laparotomy.

Conclusion: Robotic surgery may be preferred over laparotomy with respect to the advantages observed in the duration of hospitalization, estimated amount of blood loss and complications. There was no significant difference between the two methods in terms of number of resected lymph nodes. Despite the limited number of patients in this study, these results are important as they represent the first data on robotic surgery in Turkey.