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
. 2025 Sep 2.
doi: 10.1007/s00464-025-12152-y. Online ahead of print.

Robotic vs. laparoscopic surgery at the operational level: an investigation of surgeons' perspectives

Xiaodong Chen  1 , Theresa N Wang  2 , Ankit Sarin  3 , Ankit Patel  4 , Abubaker Ali  5 , Sarah Samreen  6 , Jackie Cha  7 , Dimitrios Stefanidis  8
Affiliations

Robotic vs. laparoscopic surgery at the operational level: an investigation of surgeons' perspectives

Xiaodong Chen et al. Surg Endosc. .

Abstract

Introduction: The Robotics Committee of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) conducted a study of surgeons' perspectives on robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) as compared to laparoscopic surgery (LS) in four domains: performance, requirements, challenges, and surgical care outcomes.

Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods study was performed with a thematic analysis of surgeon interviews using the framework method, followed by an online survey of SAGES Robotics Committee members. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA were utilized for analysis.

Results: Seven robotic surgeons (3 female, 4 male) were interviewed. The primary themes were that RAS outperformed LS in (1) device performance, (2) intraoperative teaching, and (3) physical fatigue. Three perceived drawbacks of RAS compared to LS were(1) requiring more resources, (2) mechanical malfunction, and (3) care delivery cost. 55 of 92 surgeon committee members (59.8%) completed the survey. 50.9% (28/55) were male, 80% (44/55) practiced in an academic setting, and 70.9% (39/55) learned RAS during residency/fellowship training. Survey results were consistent with interview themes. Participants indicated that RAS improved performance and was associated with improved patient outcomes. They recognized the relative increased cost, the lack of tactile feedback, logistical challenges, and the increased demands of operative staff. 36.4% (20/55) surgeons ranked "AI-assisted navigation/guidance" as the "most wanted" new RAS function.

Conclusion: The findings from this study provide useful insights into surgeon perspectives related to RAS as it compares with laparoscopy and desired areas for new RAS developments that may be helpful to surgical organizations and industry partners alike.

Keywords: Robotic-assisted surgery; Surgeon survey; Utilization performance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: Dr. Xiaodong Chen is the Chair of Graduate Medical Education (GME) Section in the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Vice Chair of the Award Committee in the Association for Surgical Education (ASE), and has a grant from Intuitive Surgical. Dr. Ankit Sarin is a Co-Chair of the SAGES Robotics Committee and has consultantships with Averto Medical and Noah Surgical as well as receives travel support from Intuitive Surgical Inc. Dr. Ankit Patel is a Co-Chair of the SAGES Robotics Committee and receives honoraria from the Intuitive Foundation. Dr. Abubaker Ali is a Co-Chair of the SAGES Robotics Committee and has a consultantship and receives honoraria from Intuitive Surgical Inc. Dr. Sarah Samreen is a Co-Chair of the SAGES Robotics Committee and an Executive Board member of the Texas Association of Bariatric Surgeons as well as has a consultantship with Intuitive Surgical and receives honoraria from Intuitive Surgical and Medtronic. Dr. Dimitrios Stefanidis is the Editor-in-Chief of Global Surgical Education, Chair of the SAGES Robotics Committee, and the President of the Indiana American College of Surgeons (ACS) chapter, and has consultantships with Johnson and Johnson and Applied Medical as well as grants from Intuitive Surgical, Beckton Dickinson, and Cook Medical. Drs. Theresa Wang and Jackie Cha have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

References

    1. Mederos MA, Jacob RL, Ward R, Shenoy R, Gibbons MM, Girgis MD, Kansagara D, Hynes D, Shekelle PG, Kondo K (2022) Trends in robot-assisted procedures for general surgery in the veterans health administration. J Surg Res 279:788–795. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2022.06.055 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sheetz KH, Claflin J, Dimick JB (2020) Trends in the adoption of robotic surgery for common surgical procedures. JAMA Netw Open 3(1):e1918911. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.18911 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. McCartney J (2023) Robotic surgery is here to stay— and so are surgeons. ACS Bulletin May 10
    1. Nann S, Rana A, Karatassas A, Eteuati J, Tonkin D, McDonald C (2023) Robot-assisted general surgery is safe during the learning curve: a 5-year Australian experience. J Robot Surg 17(4):1541–1546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11701-023-01560-8 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Chahal B, Aydin A, Amin MSA, Khan A, Khan MS, Ahmed K, Dasgupta P (2023) The learning curves of major laparoscopic and robotic procedures in urology: a systematic review. Int J Surg 109(7):2037–2057. https://doi.org/10.1097/JS9.0000000000000345.PMID:37132184;PMCID:PMC1038... - DOI - PubMed - PMC

LinkOut - more resources