Robot-assisted laparoscopic single-site hysterectomy: our experience and multicentric comparison with single-port laparoscopy

BACKGROUND: Analysis of perioperative outcomes of robotic single-site technique and to compare surgical outcomes with a new laparo-endoscopic single-port surgery (LESS) technique for total hysterectomy. METHODS: Perioperative data from 12 women undergone robotic single-site hysterectomy (RSSH) for benign or oncologic disease were compared with data from 15 patients who underwent total laparo-endoscopic single-site hysterectomy (LESSH) for benign disease using the new X-Cone (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany). The CUSUM technique for quantitative assessment of the learning curve was then performed. RESULTS: The mean operative time (OT) was 85±33 minutes for RSSH group and 100±20 minutes for LESSH group. Mean blood loss was 80±18 mL and 92±21 mL for RSSH and LESSH, respectively. For each group, the CUSUM learning curves identified two phases with a highly significant decrease of mean OT between phase 1 and phase 2 in both groups. The OT of both groups during phase 2 was significantly lower than during phase 1. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the safety and reproducibility of the RSS. The comparison between RSS and LESS techniques has shown that RSS has important advantages over the LESS, like deeper learning curve, lower OT not correlated with age and uterus size.