Robot-assisted surgery appears feasible for treatment of selected head and neck cancers, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
"Since the introduction of the surgical robot in 1999, robot-assisted cardiac, gynecologic and urologic procedures have become widely accepted throughout the country," the authors write as background information in the article. In these specialties, robotic procedures have been associated with less blood loss, fewer complications, shorter surgery durations and fewer days in the hospital or in intensive care compared with traditional open procedures. "Robotic surgery in the head and neck offers the possibility of limited surgical morbidity [illness], reduced hospital stay and improved lesion visualization over open approaches and traditional transoral [through the mouth] techniques."
Bridget A. Boudreaux, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham assessed the feasibility and safety of robot-assisted surgery in 36 patients with tumors involving the oral cavity, throat or larynx. Between March 2007 and May 2008, 29 (81 percent) of the patients underwent successful robotic resection, or removal of the diseased tissue. The operating room was arranged with the surgeon's console, from which he or she operated the robotic arms that held the surgical equipment, approximately eight feet from the head of the bed.
Negative margins (when no cancer cells are found at the edge or border of the removed tissue) were obtained in all 29 patients who successfully completed surgery. Of those, 21 had breathing tubes that had been in place during surgery safely removed before leaving the operating room. The average operating time was 99 minutes, and the average hospital stay was 2.9 days.