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Sandy Srinivas, MD
Sandy Srinivas, MD
Posted: Wednesday, December 21, 2022
According to Matthew Del Pino, MD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, next-generation single-port surgical robots may improve cosmetic outcomes and patients’ perceptions of scarring after prostate surgery. These findings, which were published in Urology Practice, reflected a cosmetic and psychometric benefit among patients who underwent urologic surgery with the da Vinci single-port (SP) surgical system, compared with the previous generation da Vinci Xi multiport robot.
“In assessing the impact of surgical and traumatic scars, [patient-reported outcomes] are often the most meaningful,” the researchers commented. “This study demonstrates patients’ favorable perception of SP versus XI surgery in terms of aesthetic outcomes.”
In 2018, the da Vinci SP system was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in urologic surgery. It shares multiple features with previous multiport da Vinci systems but uses a single incision to place its surgical instruments, rather than the three to five incisions required of the multiport platforms.
In this retrospective study, the investigators compared two patient groups: one underwent urologic surgery with the SP robot (n = 104), and the other was operated on with the Xi multiport system (n = 78). The patients completed a scar assessment questionnaire to record their perceptions.
The patients who underwent surgery with the single-port system reported significantly better cosmetic scar appearance than those who underwent surgery with the multiport robot (P = .007). Similarly, the single-port cohort also reported significantly lower self-consciousness of the scar (P = .045) and more satisfaction with its cosmetic appearance (P = .022) compared with the multiport group. Satisfaction with postoperative symptoms was also rated higher in the single-port group, although this difference was not significant. Of note, patients in the single-port cohort spent fewer days in the hospital.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit auajournals.org.
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