Comparison of robotic reduced-port and laparoscopic approaches for left-sided colorectal cancer surgery

Background/objective: The reduced-port approach can overcome the limitations of single-incision lapa-roscopic surgery while maintaining its advantages. Here, we compared the effects of robotic reduced -port surgery and conventional laparoscopic approaches for left-sided colorectal cancer.Methods: Between January 2015 and December 2016, the clinicopathological characteristics and treat-ment outcomes of 17 patients undergoing robotic reduced-port surgery and 49 patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for left-sided colorectal cancer were compared.Results: The two groups were comparable in almost all outcome measures except for the distal resection margin, which was significantly longer in the laparoscopic group (P < 0.001). The between-group dif-ferences in reoperation, incisional hernia development, and overall and progression-free survival were nonsignificant; however, the total hospital cost was significantly higher in the robotic group than in the laparoscopic group (US$13779.6 +/- US$3114.8 vs. US$8556.3 +/- US$2056.7, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Robotic reduced-port surgery for left-sided colorectal cancer is safe and effective but more expensive with no additional benefit compared with the conventional laparoscopic approach. This observation warrants further evaluation.(c) 2023 Asian Surgical Association and Taiwan Robotic Surgery Association. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).