Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012:2012:347131.
doi: 10.1155/2012/347131. Epub 2012 Sep 17.

The Initial Learning Curve for Robot-Assisted Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Surgeon's Experience While Introducing the Robotic Technology in a Bariatric Surgery Department

Ramon Vilallonga  1 , José Manuel Fort, Oscar Gonzalez, Enric Caubet, Angeles Boleko, Karl John Neff, Manel Armengol
Affiliations

The Initial Learning Curve for Robot-Assisted Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Surgeon's Experience While Introducing the Robotic Technology in a Bariatric Surgery Department

Ramon Vilallonga et al. Minim Invasive Surg. 2012.

Abstract

Objective. Robot-assisted sleeve gastrectomy has the potential to treat patients with obesity and its comorbidities. To evaluate the learning curve for this procedure before undergoing Roux en-Y gastric bypass is the objective of this paper. Materials and Methods. Robot-assisted sleeve gastrectomy was attempted in 32 consecutive patients. A survey was performed in order to identify performance variables during completion of the learning curve. Total operative time (OT), docking time (DT), complications, and length of hospital stay were compared among patients divided into two cohorts according to the surgical experience. Scattergrams and continuous curves were plotted to develop a robotic sleeve gastrectomy learning curve. Results. Overall OT time decreased from 89.8 minutes in cohort 1 to 70.1 minutes in cohort 2, with less than 5% change in OT after case 19. Time from incision to docking decreased from 9.5 minutes in cohort 1 to 7.6 minutes in cohort 2. The time required to dock the robotic system also decreased. The complication rate was the same in the two cohorts. Conclusion. Our survey indicates that technique and outcomes for robot-assisted sleeve gastrectomy gradually improve with experience. We found that the learning curve for performing a sleeve gastrectomy using the da Vinci system is completed after about 20 cases.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 3
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gagner M, Deitel M, Kalberer TL, Erickson AL, Crosby RD. The second international consensus summit for sleeve gastrectomy, March 19–21, 2009. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2009;5(4):476–485. - PubMed
    1. Brethauer SA, Hammel JP, Schauer PR. Systematic review of sleeve gastrectomy as staging and primary bariatric procedure. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2009;5(4):469–475. - PubMed
    1. Deng JY, Lourié DJ. 100 Robotic-assisted laparoscopic gastric bypasses at a community hospital. American Surgeon. 2008;74(10):1022–1025. - PubMed
    1. Jacobsen G, Berger R, Horgan S. The role of robotic surgery in morbid obesity. Journal of Laparoendoscopic and Advanced Surgical Techniques - Part A. 2003;13(4):279–283. - PubMed
    1. Mohr CJ, Nadzam GS, Curet MJ, et al. Totally robotic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Archives of Surgery. 2005;140(8):779–786. - PubMed