Surgical Therapies: Robotics and Endometriosis

Abstract

We are now at a stage where most intra-abdominal procedures can be performed as minimally invasive surgery. Robotic surgery has the potential to enable a laparoscopic approach for procedures performed by laparotomy due to the technical difficulties intrinsic to laparoscopy. Da Vinci robotic surgery has been applied in infertility, urogynecology, endometriosis, in laparoscopic myomectomies and gynecological oncology with good success and relatively low morbidity. Surveys of robotic surgeons are limited due to the small numbers of high-volume users, but most surgeons feel the learning curve of surgical robotics is mainly due to the set-up and docking of the system. Performing operations at the console requires following the same principles and knowledge base as in open surgery. Robotic surgeons currently are very active in procedure development, since there are very few proven best ways to perform an abdominal procedure robotically.