Robot-assisted gastric bypass lowered risk for gastrointestinal leaks

Houston, TX

The use of a robot to assist with laparaoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery appears to significantly lower a patient’s risk for gastrointestinal leaks compared with gastric bypass performed by a surgeon alone.

Minimally invasive surgeons at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston analyzed operative times, length of hospital stay and complications in 605 patients who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass either performed solely by a surgeon (n=356) or with robot assistance (n=249).

Main outcome results were similar between groups. Robot-assisted surgery took 17 minutes longer than the surgeon-only procedure. Hospital stays were an average of three days in both groups, and the overall complication rate was 14% in each group, with fewer than 4% classified as major complications. In the five-year study, there were no deaths in either group.

No patient in the robot-assisted surgery group experienced a gastrointestinal leak; however, six in the other group experienced the complication within 90 days after the surgery. The rate for gastrointestinal leaks and other complications was slightly lower than what has previously been reported in other scientific journals, according to the researchers.

“While robotic surgery may take slightly longer and be more costly to use than traditional laparoscopy, we believe that the improved outcome and decreased leak rates may offset the cost to some extent,” Erik B. Wilson, MD, director of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Texas group, said in a press release.

 Subscribe to Gastric Bypass Surgery News