Robot-assisted sleeve gastrectomy in the treatment of patients with morbid obesity

Background. Bariatric surgery is a relevant area among the treatment methods for patients with morbid obesity. With the advent of robotic platforms, various bariatric interventions, including sleeve gastrectomy, have also been performed. Robot-assisted sleeve gastrectomy may be a safe and effective method of treating patients with morbid obesity. Objective. To perform a comparative analysis of early surgical and functional results after robot-assisted and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Material and methods. The study was conducted between January 2021 and January 2025. We evaluated early and late surgical results, functional weight loss 12 months after robot-assisted and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, as well as the passage of the learning curve in terms of surgical intervention time. Statistical processing was performed using the Statistica 12.6 software, the level of statistical significance was considered acceptable at p < 0.05. Results. The experimental group included 32 patients who underwent robot-assisted sleeve gastrectomy (RA-SG), and the control group included 44 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (L-SG). The experimental and control groups did not differ statistically significantly in terms of age, gender, BMI, and physical status. The analysis of intraoperative criteria demonstrated a statistically insignificant decrease in the time of surgery and the volume of blood loss in RA-SG (p>0.05). According to the results of the analysis, there is a decrease in the average time for performing RA-SG, compared with L-SG with fewer interventions performed, which indicates a faster passage of the learning curve. The frequency of early postoperative complications did not differ statistically significantly between the two groups (p>0.05). The analysis of long-term surgical and functional results showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups (p>0.05). Conclusion. RA-SG is a comparable to L-SG treatment method for patients with morbid obesity. Early results demonstrate a satisfactory level of effectiveness and safety of this technique.