Short- and long-term outcomes of totally robotic versus robotic-assisted right hemicolectomy for colon cancer: A retrospective study

Totally robotic right hemicolectomy (TRRH) is a novel alternative surgical method used for the treatment of colon cancer. The aim of this study was to compare both the short-and long-term outcomes of TRRH and robotic-assisted right hemicolectomy (RARH) for the treatment of colon cancer. We performed a 1:2 matched propensity score analysis. We then retrospectively analyzed all procedures (64 cases TRRH and 128 cases RARH) carried out by a single surgeon between December 4, 2014 and June 20, 2018 at a large center. Both short-and long-term surgical outcomes were compared between 2 different groups. Based on the propensity score matching, we selected 64 patients that had undergone TRRH treatment and 128 patients who had undergone RARH treatment. The preoperative clinical–pathological characteristics were well matched between the 2 groups. We observed no significant differences between the 2 groups in postoperative pathological outcomes. The mean operative time was found to be significantly longer in the TRRH group compared to the RARH group (168.2 ± 9.1 minutes vs 153.4 ± 7.4 minutes, P = .034). The mean operative incision length was found to be significantly longer in the TRRH group than in the RARH group (4.5 ± 0.6 cm vs 6.9 ± 1.1 cm, P = .023). Postoperative pain score (visual analog scale at day 1) was found to be significantly lower in the TRRH group than in the RARH group (2.9 ± 1.3 vs 4.1 ± 2.1, P = .005). The time to pass flatus was observed to be statistically lower in the TRRH group (P = .042). We observed 3 twists of mesentery in the RARH group, while none were observed in the TRRH group (P < .050). Both the 3-year overall survival (TRRH [91.6%] vs RARH [89.2%], P = .467) and the 3-year disease-free survival (TRRH [81.4%] vs RARH [78.2%], P = .551) were determined to be comparable between the 2 groups studied here. We show that TRRH is a safe and feasible treatment option for colon cancer patients in terms of both short- and long-term outcomes. High-volume, randomized, controlled trials with sufficient follow-up studies will need to be carried out in order to confirm this rationale.