Identification and Categorization of Technical Errors and Hazard-zones of Robotic versus Laparoscopic total Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: A Single Center Prospective Randomized Controlled Study

Zhuoyu Jia, Shougen Cao, Daosheng Wang, Changshi Tang, Xiaojie Tan, Shanglong Liu, Xiaodong Liu, Zequn Li, Yulong Tian, Zhaojian Niu, Benjie Tang, Yanbing Zhou (Lead / Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Importance:
The current research aimed to conduct a detailed analysis of intraoperative surgical performance, short-term outcomes, identify and categorize technical errors, and hazard-zones enacted during total gastrectomy performed robotically and laparoscopically by surgeons. Prospective research is needed to determine whether the technical advantages of robotic surgery translate to patient outcomes.

Objective:
Identify and process risk areas in robot-assisted total gastrectomy (RTG) and laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) to get the best patient results.

Design:
Patients undergoing RTG and LTG were recruited and randomized into the study. Six consultant/attending surgeons participated in this study and all surgical procedures were recorded. The unedited surgical video-recordings were handed over to third-party experts for granular analysis of the procedures using objective clinical human reliability analysis (OC-HRA) for the quality of intraoperative performance, technical errors, intraoperative complications.

Setting:
This study is a single center prospective randomized controlled trial.

Participants:
82 patients were recruited and participated in this study with 40 cases undergoing RTG and 42 cases for LTG.

Interventions:
RTG vs LTG.

Main Outcomes and Measures:
Determine whether RTG or LTG can provide the better intraoperative technical performance and identify the most hazardous zone (area) during total gastrectomy (TG).

Results:
The technical errors enacted and identified in the RTG and the LTG were (46.11±5.63 VS 58.79±8.45, P<0.001) respectively. The highest number of technical errors was identified during the dissection of the supra-pancreatic lymph nodes (Task Zones3, TZ3), including No.5, 7, 8a, 9, 11p, and 12a to complete the nodal clearance around the celiac artery and its trifurcation (7.29±1.88 VS 9.43±2.24, P <0.001) in both RTG and LTG. The number of lymph nodes harvested with RTG was higher than LTG (35.36±7.51 VS 30.54±6.95, P=0.016), especially in the upper margin of the pancreas (13.32±4.17 VS 9.36±3.81, P<0.001). The total cost of hospitalization in the RTG group cost 3% more than LTG group ($15953.41±3533.91 VS $12198.26±2761.27, P<0.001).

Conclusions:
This study offers compelling OC-HRA evidence demonstrating that RTG facilitates significantly superior technical performance compared to LTG. Whether examining short-term clinical outcomes or intraoperative operations, the robotic surgery system consistently outperforms laparoscopic surgery. Lymph node dissection in the supra-pancreatic region emerged as a major hazard zone in both procedures.

Trial Registration:
chictr.org.cn: ChiCTR2000039193
Original languageEnglish
JournalAnnals of Surgery
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 8 Nov 2024

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Identification and Categorization of Technical Errors and Hazard-zones of Robotic versus Laparoscopic total Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: A Single Center Prospective Randomized Controlled Study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this