Robotic Total Mesorectal Excision for Rectal Cancer: A Series of 392 Cases and Mid-Term Outcomes from A Single Center in China.

BACKGROUND: Robotic total mesorectal excision (RTME) for rectal cancer has recently been increasingly used; technical feasibility and short-term outcomes have been reported in detail. Few studies have presented clinical efficacy and mid-term outcomes for a large sample size. The aim of this study is to present oncologic efficacy and mid-term outcomes of robotic total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer and to provide our experiences regarding these surgically challenging issues.

METHODS: Three hundred ninety-two patients received RTME between March 2010 and June 2015. Patient characteristics, perioperative clinical results, complications, pathologic details, recurrence, and mid-term outcomes were evaluated.

RESULTS: Duration of surgery ranged from 80 to 388 min (median 224 min). There were no deaths during surgery and no anesthesiology complications in our series. The conversion rate was 1.1% (4/392). The postoperative complication rate was 10.2%; anastomosis leakage was the most common complication with an incidence of 4.1% (16/392). The median blood loss was 67.5±34.3 (20-600). The mean postoperative hospital stay was 12.1±6.1 (6-64). Circumferential resection margins were negative in 387 out of 392 cases (98.7%). The mean number of harvested lymph nodes was 14.6. Two deaths occurred during 30-day mortality. At a mean follow-up of 24 months (range 3-66 months), there were 35 deaths.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that RTME is technically feasible for rectal cancer and can yield good short- and mid-term oncologic outcomes.