Tremds and Outcomes of Robot-Assisted Colon Resections

Andy Siref, Anton Simorov, MD, Benjamin Owen, Jeremy Parcells, MD, Dmitry Oleynikov, MD, FACS

University of Nebraska Medical Center

Introduction: The past decade has seen a tremendous growth in the number of laparoscopic colorectal surgeries. At the same time, the robot has become more established in certain areas such as urology. This study aims to utilize national retrospective database to examine the trends and outcomes of patients undergoing robot-assisted colon resections.

Methods: This study is a retrospective analysis utilizing the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) administrative database- a national database of more than 300 academic medical centers and affiliated hospitals. UHC uses International Classification of Diseases, 9th Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes.

Results: A total of 34,847 patients underwent minimally invasive colon resection procedures during the study period of October 2008 to June 2012. Robot-assisted procedures were attempted on 454 patients (1.29%). The rate of utilization of robot-assisted procedures has increased each of the past 4 years. Robot-assisted procedures were performed more often in patients between the ages of 51 and 64, female, of white race, and of better relative health (measured by the severity of illness) when compared to the laparoscopic group. Diverticulitis was the most commonly found reason for patients to receive a robot-assisted procedure. Teaching hospitals have shown higher utilization of the robot, when compared to non-teaching (72.7% vs 27.3%). The three most commonly performed robot-assisted procedures are sigmoid (53.1%), right colon (27.3%), and left colon (9.3%) resections.

Discussion: There is a trend of a steady increase of utilization of robot-assisted colon resections across hospitals in the United States in recent years. Conversion rates remain very low and costs remain high compared to laparoscopic procedures.

Session: Poster Presentation

Program Number: P110