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
Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Nov 9;17(1):105.
doi: 10.1186/s12893-017-0301-3.

Robotic versus laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy: an up-to-date meta-analysis

Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Robotic versus laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy: an up-to-date meta-analysis

Gian Piero Guerrini et al. BMC Surg. .

Abstract

Background: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) reduces postoperative morbidity, hospital stay and recovery as compared with open distal pancreatectomy. Many authors believe that robotic surgery can overcome the difficulties and technical limits of LDP thanks to improved surgical manipulation and better visualization. Few studies in the literature have compared the two methods in terms of surgical and oncological outcome. The aim of this study was to compare the results of robotic (RDP) and laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of control studies published up to December 2016 comparing LDP and RDP. Two Reviewers independently assessed the eligibility and quality of the studies. The meta-analysis was conducted using either the fixed-effect or the random-effect model.

Results: Ten studies describing 813 patients met the inclusion criteria. This meta-analysis shows that the RDP group had a significantly higher rate of spleen preservation [OR 2.89 (95% confidence interval 1.78-4.71, p < 0.0001], a lower rate of conversion to open OR 0.33 (95% CI 0.12-0.92), p = 0.003] and a shorter hospital stay [MD -0.74; (95% CI -1.34 -0.15), p = 0.01] but a higher cost than the LDP group, while other surgical outcomes did not differ between the two groups.

Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that the RDP procedure is safe and comparable in terms of surgical results to LDP. However, even if the RDP has a higher cost compared to LDP, it increases the rate of spleen preservation, reduces the risk of conversion to open surgery and is associated to shorter length of hospital stay.

Keywords: Distal pancreatectomy; Laparoscopic surgery; Left pancreatectomy; Meta-analysis; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic resection; Review; Robotic surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prisma flow chart of the selection process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis regarding pancreatic fistula
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis regarding conversion rate
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis regarding spleen preservation rate
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis regarding hospital stay
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis regarding cost of operation
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis regarding operative time

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Fujino Y. Perioperative management of distal pancreatectomy. World J Gastroenterol. 2015;21(11):3166–3169. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i11.3166. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang YH, Zhang CW, ZM H, Hong DF. Pancreatic cancer: open or minimally invasive surgery? World J Gastroenterol. 2016;22(32):7301–7310. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i32.7301. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wellner UF, Lapshyn H, Bartsch DK, Mintziras I, Hopt UT, Wittel U, Kramling HJ, Preissinger-Heinzel H, Anthuber M, Geissler B, et al. Laparoscopic versus open distal pancreatectomy-a propensity score-matched analysis from the German StuDoQ|pancreas registry. Int J Color Dis. 2017;32(2):273–280. doi: 10.1007/s00384-016-2693-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Borja-Cacho D, Al-Refaie WB, Vickers SM, Tuttle TM, Jensen EH. Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy. J Am Coll Surg. 2009;209(6):758–765. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2009.08.021. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sulpice L, Farges O, Goutte N, Bendersky N, Dokmak S, Sauvanet A, Delpero JR and ACHBT French Pancreatectomy Study Group. Laparoscopic distal Pancreatectomy for pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: time for a randomized controlled trial? Results of an all-inclusive National Observational Study. Ann Surg. 2015;262(5):868-73. - PubMed