OBJECTIVES: Surgical robot system has broken the limitation of traditional surgery and shown excellent performance in surgery, and has been widely used in minimally invasive treatment in most areas of surgery. This study aims to verify the basic performance of the domestic surgical robot system and the safety and effectiveness of the integrated bipolar electrocoagulation and ultrasonic knife. METHODS: The basic performance of the domestic surgical robot system was evaluated by completing the square knot and surgical knot, vertical and horizontal perforation and right ring perforation and suture, as well as picking up beans. Compared with laparoscopy, the safety and effectiveness of the domestic surgical robot after integrated interconnection bipolar electrocoagulation and ultrasonic scalpel were evaluated by detecting the vascular closure performance and the degree of histopathological damage in animals. RESULTS: Compared with freehand knotting, domestic robot knotting speed and circumference were slightly worse, but better than laparoscopic knotting. There was no statistical significance in the tension difference of the surgical knots among the 3 methods (P>0.05), but the tension of the square knots made by the freehand and the domestic surgical robot was greater than that of the laparoscopy (P<0.05). The space required for both the left and right forceps heads of knots was smaller than that of laparoscopy (P<0.001), which successfully completed the 4 quadrant suture tasks, and the time of picking up beans was significantly less than that of laparoscopy (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the temperature of the liver tissue after the bipolar electrocoagulation between the interconnected domestic surgical robot and the laparoscopy (P>0.05), and the acute thermal injury was observed under the light microscope. The temperature of the liver tissue treated by the domestic robotic ultrasound knife was higher than that of the laparoscopic ultrasound knife (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Domestic surgical robots are obviously superior to laparoscopy in suturing, knotting, and moving objects, and domestic surgical robots' interconnect bipolar electrocoagulation and ultrasonic knife have achieved success in animal experiments, and hemostasis is considered to be safe and effective.
Animals ; Robotics ; Laparoscopy/methods* ; Ultrasonography

Objective: To analyze the short-term clinical effects of robot-assisted and laparoscopic repair of the hiatal hernia. Methods: The clinical data of 56 patients underwent minimally invasive hiatal hernia repair from January 2021 to January 2022 in the Department of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Hernias and Abdominal Wall Surgery, People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were retrospectively analyzed. There were 32 males and 24 females, aging (59.7±10.7) years (range: 28 to 75 years). All patients were divided into laparoscopy group (n=27) and robot group (n=29) according to surgical procedures. Perioperative conditions, hospital stay, and improvement in symptoms before and after surgery were compared between the two groups by the t test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test and χ² test. Results: All surgical procedures were successfully completed, without conversion to laparotomy or change in operation mode. There were no serious complications related to the operation. The intraoperative blood loss of the robot group was less than that of the laparoscopic group (M (IQR)): (20 (110) ml vs. 40 (80) ml, Z=-4.098, P<0.01). The operation time ((111.7±33.6) minutes vs. (120.4±35.0) minutes, t=-0.943, P=0.350) and hospitalization time ((3.9±1.4) days vs. (4.7±1.9) days, t=-1.980, P=0.053) of the robot group and the laparoscopic group were similar. Follow-up for 12 months after the operation showed no postoperative complications and recurrence. The score of the health-related quality of life questionnaire for gastroesophageal reflux disease in the robot group decreased from 10.8±2.8 before the operation to 6.5±0.6 after the operation, and that in the laparoscopic group decreased from 10.6±2.1 before the operation to 6.3±0.6 after the operation. There was no difference in the influence of different surgical methods on the change in score (t=0.030,P=0.976). Conclusion: Compared with laparoscopic repair of the hiatal hernia, robot-assisted hiatal hernia repair has the advantages of less bleeding, rapid postoperative recovery and good short-term effect.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Hernia, Hiatal/complications* ; Retrospective Studies ; Robotics ; Herniorrhaphy/methods* ; Quality of Life ; Laparoscopy/methods* ; Recurrence ; Fundoplication/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the short-term effectiveness of "SkyWalker" robot-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and traditional TKA. METHODS: A clinical data of 54 patients (54 knees) with TKA who met the selection criteria between January 2022 and March 2022 was retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 27 cases underwent traditional TKA (traditional operation group) and 27 cases underwent "SkyWalker" robot-assisted TKA (robot-assisted operation group). There was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05) in terms of gender, age, body mass index, osteoarthritis side, disease duration, and preoperative Knee Society Score (KSS), Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), visual analogue scale (VAS) score, hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), and posterior proximal tibial angle (PPTA). The operative time, intraoperative bleeding volume, surgery-related complications, the KSS, WOMAC, and VAS scores before operation and at 6 months after operation, and Forgotten Joint Score (FJS) at 6 months after operation were recorded. X-ray films were taken to review the prosthesis position and measure HKA, LDFA, MPTA, and PPTA. The differences of the clinical and imaging indicators between before and after operation were calculated and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The operations were completed successfully in both groups. There was no significant difference in the operative time and intraoperative bleeding volume between the two groups ( P>0.05). After operation, 1 case of incision nonunion and 1 case of heart failure occurred in the traditional operation group, while no surgery-related complications occurred in the robotic-assisted operation group. The incidences of surgical complications were 7.4% (2/27) in the traditional operation group and 0 (0/27) in the robotic-assisted operation group, with no significant difference ( P=0.491). Patients in both groups were followed up 6 months. KSS score, WOMAC score, VAS score, and ROM significantly improved in both groups at 6 months after operation when compared with preoperative ones ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05) in the differences between the pre- and post-operative values of the clinical indicators and FJS scores at 6 months after operation. X-ray films showed that the lower extremity force lines of the patients improved and the knee prostheses were in good position. Except for LDFA in the robot-assisted operation group, HKA, LDFA, MPTA, and PPTA significantly improved in both groups at 6 months after operation when compared with the preoperative ones ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the differences between the pre- and post-operative values of the radiological indicators ( P>0.05). CONCLUSION The "SkyWalker" robot-assisted TKA is one of the effective methods for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis and had good short-term effectiveness. But the long-term effectiveness needs to be further studied.
Humans ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/methods* ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Knee Prosthesis ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Robotics ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVES: Da Vinci robot technology is widely used in clinic,with minimally invasive surgery development. This study aims to explore the possible influence of advanced surgical robotics on the surgery learning curve by comparing the initial clinical learning curves of 2 different surgical techniques: robotic-assisted gastrectomy (RAG) and laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy (LAG). METHODS: From September 2017 to December 2020, a chief surgeon completed a total of 108 cases of radical gastric cancer from the initial stage, including 27 cases of RAG of the Da Vinci Si robotic system (RAG group) and 81 cases of LAG (LAG group). The lymph node of gastric cancer implemented by the Japanese treatment guidelines of gastric cancer. The surgical results, postoperative complications, oncology results and learning curve were analyzed. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in general data, tumor size, pathological grade and clinical stage between the 2 groups (P>0.05). The incidence of serious complications in the RAG group was lower than the LAG group (P=0.003). The intraoperative blood loss in the RAG group was lower than that in the LAG group (P=0.046). The number of lymph nodes cleaned in the RAG group was more (P=0.003), among which there was obvious advantage in lymph node cleaning in the No.9 group (P=0.038) and 11p group (P=0.015). The operation time of the RAG group was significantly longer than the LAG group (P=0.015). The analysis of learning curve found that the cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM) value of the RAG group decreased from the 10th case, while the CUSUM of the LAG group decreased from the 28th case. The learning curve of the RAG group had fewer closing cases than that of the LAG group. The unique design of the surgical robot might help to improve the surgical efficiency and shorten the surgical learning curve. CONCLUSIONS Advanced robotics helps experienced surgeons quickly learn to master RAG skills. With the help of robotics, RAG are superior to LAG in No.9 and 11p lymph node dissection and surgical trauma reduction. RAG can clear more lymph nodes than LAG, and has better perioperative effect.
Humans ; Robotics ; Robotic Surgical Procedures/methods* ; Learning Curve ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Laparoscopy/methods* ; Lymph Node Excision/methods* ; Gastrectomy/methods* ; Treatment Outcome

Leiomyosarcoma of urinary bladder (LMS-UB) is a highly malignant mesenchymal tumor, accounting for less than 0.5% of all bladder malignancies, with a predominant clinical presentation of hematuria. Here we report a case of low-grade LMS-UB. A 44-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital with urodynia for 2 weeks. The patient's pelvis CT showed a mass on the right part of the bladder. For this reason, he was initially diagnosed with bladder cancer. We performed a robot-assisted laparoscopic enucleation of the bladder tumor and low-grade LMS-UB was diagnosed with the histopathological examination. He underwent 5 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. At 19months postoperative follow-up, the patient had no symptoms, recurrence, or distant metastasis. There is no report on the treatment of LMS-UB with minimally invasive enucleation worldwide. This case provides a new comprehensive treatment method of enucleation combined with adjuvant chemotherapy for early low-grade LMS-UB to reduce complications and improve patients' quality of life after surgery.
Male ; Humans ; Adult ; Urinary Bladder/surgery* ; Leiomyosarcoma/secondary* ; Robotics ; Quality of Life ; Pelvis/pathology* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/pathology* ; Laparoscopy/methods*

Objective:To explore the safety and feasibility of bilateral axillo-breast approach （BABA） robot in the operation of thyroid cancer in obese women. Methods:The clinical data of 81 obese female patients who underwent da Vinci robotic thyroid cancer surgery（robotic group） at the Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, PLA 960 Hospital from May 2018 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed and compared with the clinical data of 106 obese female thyroid cancer patients who underwent open surgery（open group） during the same period. The age, body mass index（BMI）, mean time of surgery, mean postoperative drainage, tumor diameter, postoperative tumor stage, number of lymph node dissection in the central and lateral cervical regions, number of positive lymph nodes in the central and lateral cervical regions, postoperative cosmetic outcome satisfaction score, mean postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complications of all patients were counted. The results were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 statistical software, and the count data were compared using the χ² test, and the measurement data were compared using the t test. Results:All patients completed the operation successfully, and there was no conversion in the robot group, postoperative pathological results were all composed of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The operation time in the robot group was（144.62±36.38） min, which was longer than that in the open group（117.06±18.72） min（P<0.05）. The average age of the robot group was（40.25±9.27） years, which was lower than that of the open group（49.59±8.70） years（P<0.05）. The satisfactory score of cosmetic effect in the robot group（9.44±0.65） was higher than that in the open group（5.23±1.07）（P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in tumor diameter, BMI, average postoperative drainage, temporary hypoparathyroidism and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, number of central and lateral cervical lymph node dissection, number of positive lymph nodes in the central and lateral cervical regions, and average postoperative hospital stay between the two groups. There was no permanent hypoparathyroidism and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in both groups. Conclusion:The application of BABA pathway robot in thyroid cancer surgery in obese women is safe and feasible, and the cosmetic effect is better after operation.
Humans ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Robotics/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injuries ; Thyroidectomy/methods* ; Carcinoma, Papillary/surgery* ; Thyroid Neoplasms/pathology* ; Neck Dissection ; Treatment Outcome

Objective: To methodically assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of robot-assisted total rectal mesenteric resection (RTME), laparoscopic-assisted total rectal mesenteric resection (laTME), and transanal total rectal mesenteric resection (taTME). Methods: A computer search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Ovid databases to identify English-language reports published between January 2017 and January 2022 that compared the clinical efficacy of the three surgical procedures of RTME, laTME, and taTME. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the NOS and JADAD scales for retrospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, respectively. Direct meta-analysis and reticulated meta-analysis were performed using Review Manager software and R software, respectively. Results: Twenty-nine publications comprising 8,339 patients with rectal cancer were ultimately included. The direct meta-analysis indicated that the length of hospital stay was longer after RTME than after taTME, whereas according to the reticulated meta-analysis the length of hospital stay was shorter after taTME than after laTME (MD=-0.86, 95%CI: -1.70 to -0.096, P=0.036). Moreover, the incidence of anastomotic leak was lower after taTME than after RTME (OR=0.60, 95%CI: 0.39 to 0.91, P=0.018). The incidence of intestinal obstruction was also lower after taTME than after RTME (OR=0.55, 95%CI: 0.31 to 0.94, P=0.037). All of these differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the three surgical procedures regarding the number of lymph nodes cleared, length of the inferior rectal margin, or rate of positive circumferential margins (all P>0.05). An inconsistency test using nodal analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the results of direct and indirect comparisons of the six outcome indicators (all P>0.05). Furthermore, we detected no significant overall inconsistency between direct and indirect evidence. Conclusion: taTME has advantages over RTME and laTME, in terms of radical and surgical short-term outcomes in patients with rectal cancer.
Humans ; Robotics ; Robotic Surgical Procedures/adverse effects* ; Network Meta-Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Postoperative Complications/etiology* ; Transanal Endoscopic Surgery/methods* ; Rectum/surgery* ; Rectal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Laparoscopy/methods* ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the early efficacy of Mako robot-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and summarize the initial application experience. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 73 patients with KOA treated with Mako robot-assisted TKA from June 2021 to December 2021. There were 16 males and 57 females, aged from 54 to 81 years old with an average of (67.8±6.6) years old. The hip knee and ankle angle (HKA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), lateral femoral component angle (LFCA) and lateral tibial component angle (LTCA) were recorded and analyzed. WOMAC score and KSS were used to compare the functional recovery of patients preoperatively, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: All the 73 patients were successfully treated without serious complications such as vascular and nerve injury, and all the incisions healed well at stageⅠwithout infection. The patients were followed up from 4 to 11 months with an average of (7.0±2.7) months, and the satisfaction rate of the last follow-up was 90.41% (66/73). WOMAC scores were (23.1±5.4) at 3 months and (14.8±4.1) at 6 months postoperatively. KSS clinical scores were ( 76.1±4.0) at 3 months and (82.1±3.7) at 6 months postoperatively;KSS functional scores were (74.3±3.1) at 3 months and (78.6±2.1) at 6 months after operation. Postoperative imaging showed good position of the prosthesis, HKA angle was (178.5±2.1)°, LDFA was (91.2±1.8)°, MPTA was(89.9±1.5) °, LFCA was (7.6±3.1)°, LTCA was (88.2±1.1)°. The mechanical axis within ±3° in sixty cases(82.2%), and the mechanical axis within ±6° in all the patients. CONCLUSION Mako robot-assisted TKA is a safe and effective surgery in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, which exhibited good efficacy in the correction of lower limb alignment, soft tissue balance and improvement of knee function. The long-term efficacy needs further follow-up observation.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/methods* ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Robotics ; Knee Joint/surgery*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy and advantages of Tianji orthopedic robot assisted cannulated screw internal fixation for femoral neck fracture. METHODS: The clinical data of 41 patients with femoral neck fracture who underwent internal fixation with cannulated screws from January 2019 to January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. According to different surgical methods, they were divided into Tianji robot group and traditional cannulated screw fixation group (traditional operation group). Among them, there were 18 patients in Tianji robot group including 8 males and 10 females with age of (56.00±4.22) years old, Garden typeⅠ (4 cases), type Ⅱ (11 cases), type Ⅲ (2 cases), and type Ⅳ (1 case). There were 23 patients in the traditional operation group, including 10 males and 13 females, aged (54.87±4.81) years old;there were 5 cases of Garden typeⅠ, 14 cases of type Ⅱ, 3 cases of type Ⅲ and 1 case of type Ⅳ. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, fluoroscopy times, guide needle placement times, operation costs and other indicators were observed and compared between two groups. Harris score was used to evaluate hip joint function 12 months after operation. RESULTS: The wounds of all patients healed in Grade A without complications. There were significant differences between two groups in terms of operation time, times of intraoperative fluoroscopy, times of guide needle placement, amount of intraoperative bleeding, and operation cost (P<0.05). All 41 patients were followed up for at least 12 months. The fractures of both groups were healed. There was no infection, screw loosening, fracture displacement and femoral head necrosis in Tianji robot group during follow-up;Screw loosening occurred in 2 patients in the traditional operation group during follow-up. At 12 months after operation, Harris hip joint function score of Tianji robot group was higher than that of traditional operation group in daily activity, lameness, joint activity score and total score (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Tianji robot assisted nail placement is a better method for the treatment of femoral neck fracture, which improves the surgical efficiency, is more accurate, has higher success rate of one-time nail placement, shorter operation time, less radiation, and has better hip joint function recovery after surgery.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Robotics ; Retrospective Studies ; Femoral Neck Fractures/surgery* ; Bone Screws ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/methods* ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy, safety, and short-term effectiveness of a domestic robot-assisted system in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) by a multicenter randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Between December 2021 and February 2023, 138 patients with knee osteoarthritis who received TKA in 5 clinical centers were prospectively collected, and 134 patients met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to either a trial group ( n=68) or a control group ( n=66). Seven patients had lost follow-up and missing data, so they were excluded and the remaining 127 patients were included for analysis, including 66 patients in the trial group and 61 patients in the control group. There was no significant difference ( P>0.05) in gender, age, body mass index, side, duration of osteoarthritis, Kellgren-Lawrence grading, preoperative Knee Society Score (KSS) and Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score between the two groups. The trial group completed the TKA by domestic robot-assisted osteotomy according to the preoperative CT-based surgical planning. The control group was performed by traditional osteotomy plate combined with soft tissue release. Total operation time, osteotomy time of femoral/tibial side, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative complications were recorded and compared between the two groups. The radiographs were taken at 5 and 90 days after operation, and hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), lateral distal angle of femur (LDFA), and posterior tibial slope (PTS) were measured. The difference between the measured values of the above indexes at two time points after operation and the preoperative planning target values was calculated, and the absolute value (absolute error) was taken for comparison between the two groups. The postoperative recovery of lower limb alignment was judged and the accuracy was calculated. KSS score and WOMAC score were used to evaluate the knee joint function of patients before operation and at 90 days after operation. The improvement rates of KSS score and WOMAC score were calculated. The function, stability, and convenience of the robot-assisted system were evaluated by the surgeons. RESULTS: The total operation time and femoral osteotomy time of the trial group were significantly longer than those of the control group ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the tibial osteotomy time and the amount of intraoperative blood loss between the two groups ( P>0.05). The incisions of both groups healed by first intention after operation, and there was no infection around the prosthesis. Nine patients in the trial group and 8 in the control group developed lower extremity vascular thrombosis, all of which were calf intermuscular venous thrombosis, and there was no significant difference in the incidence of complications ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up 90 days. There was no significant difference in KSS score and WOMAC score between the two groups at 90 days after operation ( P>0.05). There was significant difference in the improvement rate of KSS score between the two groups ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in the improvement rate of WOMAC score between the two groups ( P>0.05). Radiological results showed that the absolute errors of HKA and LDFA in the trial group were significantly smaller than those in the control group at 5 and 90 days after operation ( P<0.05), and the recovery accuracy of lower limb alignment was significantly higher than that in control group ( P<0.05). The absolute error of PTS in the trial group was significantly smaller than that in the control group at 5 days after operation ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference at 90 days between the two groups ( P>0.05). The functional satisfaction rate of the robot-assisted system was 98.5% (65/66), and the satisfaction rates of stability and convenience were 100% (66/66). CONCLUSION Domestic robot-assisted TKA is a safe and effective surgical treatment for knee osteoarthritis, which can achieve favorable lower limb alignment reconstruction, precise implant of prosthesis, and satisfactory functional recovery.
Humans ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/methods* ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/surgery* ; Blood Loss, Surgical ; Robotics ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Knee Prosthesis ; Retrospective Studies