BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgical techniques have improved outcomes in colorectal surgery, but comparative data on their use in total abdominal colectomy with end ileostomy for inflammatory bowel disease remain limited. This study aimed to compare postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing robotic, laparoscopic, or open total abdominal colectomy for inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis using propensity score matching to control for baseline differences across patients. Data were obtained from the 2022 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, a national surgical outcomes registry. Adult patients who underwent total abdominal colectomy with end ileostomy for ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease were included. Patients were treated with robotic-assisted, laparoscopic, or open total abdominal colectomy with end ileostomy. The primary outcome was any postoperative complication within 30 days of surgery. Secondary outcomes included operative time, conversion to open surgery, length of hospital stay, 30-day readmission, and other specific postoperative complications such as surgical site infection and renal insufficiency. RESULTS: A total of 581 matched patients were analyzed, including 83 robotic, 415 laparoscopic, and 83 open cases. There were no significant differences in overall 30-day morbidity across groups. Robotic surgery had significantly longer operative time than laparoscopic but not open surgery. Organ space infections and renal complications were more common in the robotic group compared with laparoscopic. Although robotic surgery was associated with shorter hospital stay, it also had the highest 30-day readmission rate. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic total abdominal colectomy demonstrated similar overall morbidity and conversion rates compared with other approaches but was associated with longer operative time, increased complications, and higher readmissions. Further refinement of perioperative protocols and patient selection may improve outcomes.
Alam et al. (Wed,) studied this question.