Robot-assisted abdominal surgery in children less than 5 months of age: retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Robot-assisted surgery is increasingly used in children. While robot-assisted surgery in children has been proved to be safe and feasible, use in infants is controversial. The purpose of this study was to present a study of robot-assisted abdominal surgery in children less than5 months of age.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 111 patients less than 5 months of age who underwent abdominal surgery from April 2020 to December 2022 in our hospital. The data included clinical information, operative details, and postoperative outcomes.

RESULTS

Among these 111 patients, 67 underwent robot-assisted surgery and 44 underwent laparoscopic-assisted surgery, the robot-assisted group includes 40 patients with Hirschsprung disease, 20 patients with choledochal cysts, and 7 patients with intestinal duplication, the laparoscopic-assisted group includes 26 patients with Hirschsprung disease, 9 patients with choledochal cysts, and 9 patients with intestinal duplication. For Hirschsprung disease, the operation time was significantly longer ( P =0.013) and the intraoperative bleeding was significantly less ( P =0.000) in the robot-assisted group than the laparoscopic assisted group. For choledochal cysts, the median operation time of 180 mins for the robot-assisted group was not significantly longer than the laparoscopic assisted surgery group at 160 mins ( P =0.153). For intestinal duplication, the operation time was significantly longer ( P =0.002) in the robot-assisted group than the laparoscopic assisted group. For these three diseases, the hospitalization expense was significantly higher ( P <0.05) in the robot-assisted group than the laparoscopic assisted group, there were no significant differences in complications, and postoperative fasting time between two groups ( P >0.05).

CONCLUSION

Robot-assisted abdominal surgery in children less than 5 months of age is safe and feasible. This study showed that the surgical indications for the Da Vinci robot system in children can be extended to infants.