Learning curve and early clinical outcomes for a robotic surgery novice performing robotic single site cholecystectomy

BackgroundA rapid training protocol has been developed for robotic surgery novices to learn robotic single-incision techniques. This study assesses the learning curve and early clinical results for a robotic surgery novice starting single-site cholecystectomy. MethodsA chart review was performed on the surgeon's first 55 patients to undergo this procedure. ResultsAverage patient age was 46.01 +/- 4.25 (range 21-86) years and BMI was 26.57 +/- 4.25 (range 19.4-36.6) kg/m2. The mean port placement with docking time was 11.34 +/- 3.74 (range 7-23) min. Mean console time was 28.74 +/- 11.04 (range 15-66) min. Average total OR time was 61.84 +/- 14.66 (range 40-105) min. All procedures were successfully completed without conversion or added ports. Complications included several minor procedural gall bladder perforations and miscellaneous postoperative symptomatic complaints. ConclusionRobotic single site cholecystectomy can be safely performed by a robotic novice within a minimal learning curve and have early clinical results that are comparable to the published data of robotic experts. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.