Port-Site Metastases After Robotic Surgery for Gynecologic Malignancy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery is increasingly used for the management of patients with gynecologic malignancies. The rate of port-site metastases in patients undergoing these procedures is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of a prospective database. A total of 220 women underwent robotic-assisted surgery from 2007 through 2011. Malignancy was detected in 145 cases, and 142 met the inclusion criteria with histologically proven cancer and robotically completed surgery. All women who underwent surgical treatment for their malignancies were followed up at the study site for oncology treatments. RESULTS: There were 710 potential port sites for metastasis. We found that 2 of 142 patients each had a single port-site metastasis, for an overall rate of 1.41%, or 0.28% per trocar site. Recurrent disease was not isolated in the two patients found to have port-site metastases because both had concurrent sites of pelvic recurrence. CONCLUSION: The rate of port-site metastases in patients undergoing robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery for gynecologic malignancies is similar to the published rate in the literature for traditional laparoscopic oncology.