Early experience of uniportal robotic assisted anatomic resection in lung cancer patients: Is it safe and feasible direct transition from uniportal video thoracoscopic assisted surgery to uniportal robotic assisted surgery?

Abstract

Abstract Background To share our experience and short outcome of uniportal robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (U-RATS) hybrid method in lung cancer patients Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to compare the feasibility of U-RATS in lung cancer patients. From August 2023 to December 2023, 15 patients with 16 lung cancers were enrolled in this study. The perioperative and 30-day short term outcomeresults were collected. Results: Perioperative outcomes were gathered in this study, including the length of hospital stay and the rate of post-operative (post-op) complications. The mean docking time of URATS was , mean intraoperative blood loss was mL, mean post-op hospital stay was 3.05 days, and the thoracic drainage of the first day after surgery were 230.9 vs. 207.1 mL. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scales after surgery and on the discharge day were 2.4 ±0.6 and 1.6±1.3. No perioperative and 30-day mortality occurred in our retrospective study. There was no conversion case to multiport robotic assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) or thoracotomy in our series. Conclusion: U-RATS is a feasible treatment option for lung cancer patients as long as Console surgeon and cart surgeon with excellent communication skills and extensive training experience in uniport video -assisted thoracoscopic surgery (U-VATS) and comprehensive RATS training.