Lymphovascular Space Invasion in Robotic Surgery for Endometrial Cancer

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery has become a standard treatment for endometrial cancer and offers significant benefits over abdominal approaches. There are discrepant data regarding lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) and positive peritoneal cytology with the use of a uterine manipulator, with previous small-scale studies demonstrating an increased incidence of these prognostically important events. We sought to determine if there was a higher incidence of LVSI in patients who underwent robot-assisted surgery for endometrial cancer. METHODS: We performed a single-institution review of medical records for patients who underwent open abdominal or robot-assisted hysterectomy for endometrial cancer over a 24-month period. The following data were abstracted: age, tumor grade and stage, size, depth of invasion, LVSI, and peritoneal cytology. For patients with LVSI, slides were reviewed by 2 pathologists for confirmation of LVSI. RESULTS: Of 104 patients identified, LVSI was reported in 39 (37.5%) and positive peritoneal cytology in 6 (4.8%). Rates of peritoneal cytology were not significantly different between the 2 groups (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.10–3.17; P = .50). LVSI was reported in significantly fewer robot-assisted hysterectomies than open procedures (odds ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.17–0.92; P = .03). In subgroup analyses restricted to early-stage disease (stage ≤ II), there was no significant difference in LVSI between open and robot-assisted hysterectomies (odds ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval, 0.22–1.85; P = .43). CONCLUSION: In this retrospective study, we found that use of a uterine manipulator in robot-assisted surgery did not increase the incidence of LVSI.