ABSTRACT
The first report of robotically assisted surgery in humans for a gynecologic indication was of a tubal reanastomosis in 1999. 4 The first series of robotically assisted hysterectomies was published in 2002. 5 Additional gynecologic reports have described successful completion of robotically assisted ovarian transposition, myomectomies, vesicovaginal fistula repair, and sacrocolpopexy. 6-10 These studies do not directly compare their outcomes to laparoscopic approaches, but provide acceptable results. The first robotically assisted gynecologic oncology procedures were reported in 2005, with the first radical hysterectomy reported in 2006. 11,12
The largest series in gynecologic oncology have only been presented in abstract form at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology ’ s 38th Annual Meeting on Women ’ s Cancer in 2007. 13,14 This single institution ’ s experience demonstrates similar operative times for robotically assisted radical hysterectomies compared with laparotomies, with significantly less blood loss and length of hospital stay. 13 In addition, shorter mean operative times were seen for robotically assisted endometrial staging procedures compared with traditional laparoscopic staging procedures. 14 Higher mean lymph node counts were also seen in patients who had undergone a robotically assisted procedure compared with a traditional laparoscopic approach. 14 Both series demonstrated lower complication rates for robotically assisted procedures compared with both laparotomy and laparoscopy.
