title: [Robotically assisted urologic endoscopic surgery].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Comprehensive evaluation of surgical procedures remains the cornerstone of quality control. Robotic surgery has become a popular surgical option in urology. We review the English medical literature on urological robot-assisted endoscopic surgery (URAES) in order to assess the trends of medical publications regarding this subject.
  
  
  METHODS
  All Studies addressing URAES were included. Information for this review was obtained by Pub Med searches from 2003 to 2008. Keywords used in our search included: "robotic urologic surgery", "robotic assisted urological surgery". Only articles published in English were included in this review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 383 studies. 366 articles corresponded to clinical series of different topics regarding robotics in urology; 13 articles presented comparisons of robotic surgery versus either pure laparoscopic or open surgery in urological procedures such as radical cistectomy (1), radical prostatectomy (10) and pyeloplasty (2). Four studies corresponded to randomized control trials, addressing robotic telerounding (2), kidney percutaneous access (1) and camera holding devices for endoscopic surgery (1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  URAES is an emerging surgical option for urological operations like radical prostatectomy, pyeloplasty and radical cystectomy. There is lack of high-level evidence information to support the idea of robotic surgery as the upcoming surgical gold standard in urology. Surgical evolution will favour the potential benefits of robotic technology, but there is need for design and performance of prospective randomized trials in robotic urologic surgery in order to consolidate the application of this novel technology.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Urología, Clínica INDISA, Santiago. Chile. octaviocastillo@vtr.net
authors.forename: Octavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Javier Ahualli
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Salas
authors.forename: Ivar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feria-Flores
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sepúlveda
mesh_terms: D004724:Endoscopy; D006801:Humans; D012371:Robotics; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*