Kyle H. Sheetz

About

Kyle H. Sheetz is a surgical health services researcher whose work sits at the critical intersection of surgical innovation, patient safety, and technology adoption. He has emerged as one of the leading voices examining the rapid—and often evidence-thin—expansion of robotic surgery across the United States. His most cited work, "Trends in the Adoption of Robotic Surgery for Common Surgical Procedures" (2020, 868 citations), established a foundational concern that hospitals are acquiring and deploying robotic platforms faster than rigorous clinical evidence can justify. Sheetz has built upon this foundation through detailed population-based analyses of specific procedures, including cholecystectomy, colectomy, and ventral hernia repair, consistently interrogating whether robotic approaches offer meaningful advantages over laparoscopic or open techniques. His comparative safety studies have raised important alarms, including evidence of higher bile duct injury rates in robotic-assisted cholecystectomy, and his learning curve research illuminates how surgeon experience shapes patient outcomes. Published predominantly in JAMA and its affiliated journals, his body of work has accumulated over 1,200 citations and directly informs policy conversations about credentialing standards and institutional safeguards—making him an essential read for anyone navigating the evolving landscape of minimally invasive surgery.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Trends in the Adoption of Robotic Surgery for Common Surgical Procedures

   868 citations · 2020
2. 2
   Comparative Safety of Robotic-Assisted vs Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

   164 citations · 2023
3. 3
   Perioperative Outcomes and Trends in the Use of Robotic Colectomy for Medicare Beneficiaries From 2010 Through 2016

   60 citations · 2019
4. 4
   Is It Time for Safeguards in the Adoption of Robotic Surgery?

   53 citations · 2019
5. 5
   Surgical Approach and Long-Term Recurrence After Ventral Hernia Repair

   49 citations · 2024
6. 6
   Patient Complexity and Bile Duct Injury After Robotic-Assisted vs Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

   31 citations · 2025
7. 7
   Learning Curve for Robotic-Assisted Cholecystectomy

   21 citations · 2024
8. 8
   Trends in Use of Robotic Surgery for Privately Insured Patients and Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries

   19 citations · 2023
9. 9
   Learning Curves for Robotic-Assisted Ventral Hernia Repair

   7 citations · 2024
10. 10
    Robotics for Emergency General Surgery—Selecting the Right Tool

    3 citations · 2024

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links