Introduction: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery is an expanding field of medicine. In endoscopic microsurgery particularly, difficult maneuvers such as intracorporeal hand-sewn anastomoses or a narrow operating field are ideal indications for use of an operation robot.
Patients and methods: Six patients, four men and two women, underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic cardiomyotomy for achalasia at a tertiary referral center with substantial expertise in robotic surgery. A detailed description of the operation technique is provided, together with a review of the literature.
Results: Robot-assisted laparoscopic cardiomyotomy was feasible without any particular problem and the postoperative course of all six patients was uneventful. The operation time was 236 (220-316) minutes, plus 38 (25-47) minutes for setup-time of the robot. At follow-up six months postoperatively, five of the six patients were free of significant dysphagia and all were free of reflux symptoms.
Discussion: There are several published reports, series and trials on robot-assisted laparoscopic cardiomyotomy. The general conclusion is that in experienced hands this operation is easy to perform, with a significantly lower rate of mucosal perforations, but that overall costs are higher, including a longer operation time during the learning curve. The avoidance of mucosal lacerations and their possible consequences has to be weighed against higher overall costs.
Conclusion: Laparoscopic cardiomyotomy is the first standard laparoscopic operation where a clear advantage for use of an operation robot has been proven. Thus, wherever an operation robot is available it should be used for this procedure.