Robotic sleeve gastrectomy through medial approach for severe obesity: Safe introduction, technical description and case series

Abstract

The use of robotic surgery has increased worldwide and has the potential to amplify the surgeon’s skill owing to its versatile functions. However, robotic surgery requires specific skills that differ from laparoscopic surgery, and the field of robotic surgery training systems is underdeveloped. Therefore, to ensure patient safety, a task protocol should be prepared before the introduction of novel robotic surgeries. This article provides the pioneering description of performing robotic sleeve gastrectomy (RSG) through the medial-to-lateral approach, utilising our newly revised protocol. The preliminary clinical results of 10 patients who underwent RSG using the stapling-first technique between June 2021 and March 2023 showed that RSG is safe and feasible and that the implementation of a task protocol is an effective strategy for the safe introduction of a novel robotic surgical technique.

Keywords

• bariatric surgery
• medial approach
• patient safety
• protocol
• robot surgery
• stapling-first technique