Compare the prognosis of Da Vinci robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) with video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for non-small cell lung cancer: A Meta-analysis

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) Vol. 98; no. 39; p. e17089
• Main Authors: Guo, Feng, Ma, Dongjie, Li, Shanqing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc 01.09.2019; Wolters Kluwer Health
• Subjects: Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - surgery; Conversion to Open Surgery; Humans; Length of Stay; Lung Neoplasms - surgery; Lymph Node Excision; Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology; Operative Time; Postoperative Complications; Robotic Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Robotic Surgical Procedures - methods; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted - adverse effects; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted - methods; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000017089

To determine if there are advantages to transitioning to Da Vinci robotics by a surgeon compared to the video-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy.A systematic electronic search of online electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library updated on December 2017. Publications on comparison Da Vinci-robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) and video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for non-small cell lung cancer were collected. Meta-analysis RevMan 5.3 software (The Cochrane collaboration, Oxford, UK) was used to analyze the combined pooled HRs using fixed or random-effects models according to the heterogeneity.Fourteen retrospective cohort studies were included. No statistical difference was found between the 2 groups with respect to conversion to open, dissected lymph nodes number, hospitalization time after surgery, duration of surgery, drainage volume after surgery, prolonged air leak, and morbidity (P > .05).Da Vinci-RATS lobectomy is a feasible and safe technique and can achieve an equivalent surgical efficacy when compared with VATS. There does not seem to be a significant advantage for an established VATS lobectomy surgeon to transition to robotics based on clinical outcomes.