A study found that using a robotic surgical system may facilitate enhanced performance in pulmonary segmentectomy, which can benefit patients with limited pulmonary function who present with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study was published in the Journal of Thoracic Disease.
In this retrospective analysis, researchers assessed the robotic thoracic surgery program by analyzing 138 thoracoscopic and robotic anatomic lung resections performed for primary lung cancer.
According to the results, of the types of lung cancer resected (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or other), tumor size, and tumor location were not significantly different between years (P=0.44, P=0.98, and P=0.26, respectively). The researchers noted that the proportion of segmentectomies increased from 8.6% during the first year to 25% during the second year (P=0.01). Over 16% of segmentectomies were performed using the robot during the first year versus over 88% during the second year.
“Use of the robot led to a significant increase in the number of segmentectomies performed in patients undergoing anatomic lung resection. With increasing lung cancer awareness and widely available screening, a greater number of small, early-stage tumors suitable for segmentectomy will likely be detected,” the researchers wrote. “We conclude that robotic-assisted surgery may facilitate the challenges of performing a minimally invasive segmentectomy.”
