A compara tive analysis of short-term patient outcomes after laparoscop ic versus robotic rectal surgery

[Background] The popularity of robot-assisted colorectal surgery has risen over recent years; however, patient-related advantages over laparoscopic surgery remain uncertain. [Objective] The goal of this study was to compare short-term patient outcomes following robotic and laparoscopic partial or complete rectal resections. [Design] This was a retrospective cohort study. [Settings] The study was conducted at 5 large tertiary care Kaiser Permanente medical centers across Southern California. [Patients] There were 863 consecutive robotic and laparoscopic pelvic rectal surgeries, including low anterior resections, proctectomies with coloanal anastomosis, and abdominoperineal resections, performed between January 2010 and December 2019. [Main outcome measures] Short-term patient outcomes, including postoperative length of hospital stay, emergency department returns, and 30-day readmissions, and mortality. [Results] A total of 458 surgical procedures were performed via robotic versus 405 via laparoscopic approaches. The robotic group had a higher proportion of male patients (57.4% vs 50.4%; p=0.04) and a higher proportion of obese (27.1% vs 26.9%; p=0.02) and overweight patients (36.9% vs 35.1%; p=0.01). There was no difference in underlying comorbidities of diabetes or smoking, or in the rate of ileostomy creation. After adjusting for Charlson Comorbidity Index, no significant difference was found in emergency department returns between robotic and laparoscopic surgical patients (p=0.17). There were no significant outcome differences between the 2 groups with regards to length of stay during procedure, 30-day readmission, or death rates. [Limitations] This study was limited by the lack of randomization in its design, selection of patients for surgical approach, and training and familiarity with robotic rectal surgery. [Conclusions] This study shows length of stay during the procedure and postoperative 30-day readmission rates were generally similar between robotic and laparoscopic patients. Male patients and those with a higher BMI were more likely to have been operated via a robotic method.