Robotics — The answer to the Achilles’ heel of VATS pulmonary resection

Abstract

During the past decade, robotic surgical systems have been increasingly utilized to perform highly complex surgical procedures. In fact, the robotic-assisted approach to the treatment of many gynecological and urological surgical procedures has become the standard-of-care. The use of robotic surgical system in thoracic surgery is in its early development. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) was propelled forward in the early 1990’s without full appreciation for long-term consequences, increased cost or therapeutic benefit. The trend in robotic-assisted thoracic surgery is projected to surpass the adoption of VATS and to mirror that of other robotic surgical subspecialties.