Clinical Outcomes of Transoral Robotic Surgery for Head and Neck Tumors

Park, Young Min MD
Kim, Won Shik MD
Byeon, Hyung Kwon MD
De Virgilio, Armando MD
Lee, Sei Young MD
Kim, Se-Heon MD, PhD

Correspondence: Se-Heon Kim, MD, PhD, Dept of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Korea

From the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine (Park, W. S. Kim, Byeon, S.-H. Kim), and the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine (Lee), Seoul, Korea, and the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy (De Virgilio).

Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology 122(2):p 73-84, February 2013. | DOI: 10.1177/000348941312200202

Objectives:

In order to reduce treatment-related morbidity rates and increase patients' quality of life, robot-assisted surgery using the da Vinci surgical system (Intuitive Surgical Inc, Sunnyvale, California) has been studied actively in the field of head and neck surgery. This study analyzes our experiences therewith in order to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of robot-assisted surgery via a transoral approach in the head and neck area.

Methods:

Between April 2008 and December 2011, 141 patients were treated with robot-assisted surgery via a transoral approach.

Results:

Robot-assisted surgeries were successfully completed via a transoral approach in all patients. The mean robotic operative time was 69.3 minutes, and the mean time for setup of the robotic system was 10.4 minutes. The average blood loss during the operation was 29.6 mL (range, 0 to 300 mL). Patients who underwent robot-assisted surgery were satisfied with their cosmetic results and treatment outcomes.

Conclusions:

Robot-assisted surgery via a transoral approach was confirmed to be feasible and efficient in the field of head and neck surgery. Further research is needed to investigate the long-term functional and oncological results of robot-assisted surgery.