Laparoscopic vesicovaginal fistula repair with robotic reconstruction

Abstract

Introduction: To describe, to our knowledge, the first case report of robotic-assisted laparoscopic repair of a vesicovaginal fistula. A 44-year-old woman presented with a vesicovaginal fistula after vaginal hysterectomy. She had been noted to have a bladder injury that was repaired at that time. A vesicovaginal fistula developed several weeks later, and she was referred for repair. The location of the fistula was deemed amenable to repair using a robot-assisted laparoscopic approach.

Technical considerations: The total operative time was 280 minutes, including placement of ureteral catheters and repositioning. The estimated blood loss was 50 mL. The fistula was repaired using robot-assisted laparoscopic techniques without complications, and the patient went home on the second postoperative day. The Foley catheter was removed 2 weeks postoperatively. The patient continued to void normally without recurrence at 16 weeks of follow-up.

Conclusions: Laparoscopic repair of vesicovaginal fistulas has not gained widespread acceptance owing to its technical difficulty. We describe a minimally invasive laparoscopic approach using the DaVinci robotic system to repair a vesicovaginal fistula.