title: Current status of robot-assisted gastric surgery.
abstract: In an effort to minimize the limitations of laparoscopy, a robotic surgery system was introduced, but its role for gastric cancer is still unclear. The objective of this article is to assess the current status of robotic surgery for gastric cancer and to predict future prospects. Although the current study was limited by its small number of patients and retrospective nature, robot-assisted gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy for the treatment of gastric cancer is a feasible and safe procedure for experienced laparoscopic surgeons. Most studies have reported satisfactory results for postoperative short-term coutcomes, such as: postoperative oral feeding, gas out, hospital stay and complications, compared with laparoscopic surgery; the difference is a longer operation time. However, robotic surgery showed a shallow learning curve compared with the familarity of conventional open surgery; after the accumulation of several cases, robotic surgery could be expected to result in a similar operation time. Robotic-assisted gastrectomy can expand the indications of minimally invasive surgery to include advanced gastric cancer by improving the ability to perform lymphadenectomy. Moreover, "total" robotic gastrectomy can be facilitated using a robot-sewing technique and gastric submucosal tumors near the gastroesophageal junction or pylorus can be resected safely by this novel technique. In conclusion, robot-assisted gastrectomy may offer a good alternative to conventional open or laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer, provided that long-term oncologic outcomes can be confirmed.
authors: Se-Jin Baek, Dong-Woo Lee, Department of Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, MIS and Robotic Surgery Center, Korea University Medical Center, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul 136-705, South Korea.
authors: Se-Jin
authors: SJ
authors: Baek
authors: Dong-Woo
authors: DW
authors: Lee
authors: Sung-Soo
authors: SS
authors: Park
authors: Seon-Hahn
authors: SH
authors: Kim