[First national survey on use of robotics for visceral surgery in Germany].

BACKGROUND: The operation robot is the most advanced technology available in minimally invasive surgery for facilitating complex surgical procedures and is increasingly used in visceral surgery; however, to date no data are available concerning its use in visceral surgery in Germany.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the survey was to document the development and current state of the art of robotics for visceral surgery in Germany.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: All 41 surgical departments with access to the da Vinci robot were invited to participate in the survey. Data were acquired with a specially designed Excel spreadsheet, documenting all procedures and also the dignity in gastrointestinal operations for each year since inception of the robot program up to 2015.

RESULTS: Of the 41 surgical departments with an active robotic program only 23 participated in the analysis. The overall volume rose steadily from 4 procedures in 2010 to 50 in 2012, 106 in 2013, 441 in 2014 and reached 819 in 2015. In this period 2 centers had > 200 operations, 1 center had 150, 3 centers had ≥ 100, 3 departments had ≥ 50 and 14 departments had < 50 operations. The type of robotic procedures used encompassed the full scope of laparoscopic surgery. Colorectal surgery was predominant with 50 % of all procedures and was performed in 87 % of the departments. Thymus resections amounted to 10 % of all surgical procedures and gastric surgery to 9 %. Approximately 5 % of all cases involved the esophagus, gall bladder and pancreas. Hepatic surgery amounted to only 2.4 % and all other operations even less and were performed in only a few departments.

CONCLUSION: Despite a doubling of procedures in recent years, robotics is still in the initial phase for visceral surgery in Germany.