Commentary on "Transoral robotic surgery in oral tongue cancer patients with trismus: A retrospective evaluation of feasibility and surgical outcomes,".

The recent paper by Pan et al. (2025), entitled "Transoral robotic surgery in oral tongue cancer patients with trismus: a retrospective evaluation of feasibility and surgical outcomes," marks an important milestone in head and neck surgery. This commentary highlights that transoral robotic surgery (TORS) is safe and effective for oral tongue cancer patients, trismus. The high negative margin rate (98.5%) and absence of complications or conversions to open surgery provide strong evidence for the feasibility and oncological efficacy of TORS. The study suggests that improved mouth opening post-operatively, through release of fibrotic tissue intra-operatively, offers a two-fold benefit of oncologic surgical resection and trismus relief. These outcomes are consistent with the gradual shift in surgical paradigms emphasizing function preservation and improving access through precision. Although retrospective and single center, multicenter and prospective trials assessing functional recovery, trismus recurrence and quality of life should be conducted. The study arrives at an optimal time, redefining surgical candidacy and enhancing robotic surgery application for complex malignancies in the oral cavity.