Robotic rectal surgery in Korea: Analysis of a nationwide registry.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to analyze the progress and the present state of application of robotic rectal surgery in Korea.

METHODS: We used data from patients who underwent robotic, laparoscopic or open approaches for four types of operative procedures between 2006 and 2014: (1) anterior resection (AR), (2) low anterior resection (LAR), (3) intersphincteric resection (ISR) and (4) abdominoperineal resection (APR).

RESULTS: The number of hospitals performing robotic rectal surgery has increased. Low anterior resection accounts for the largest percentage of robotic surgeries (mean 67.2%), and the number and proportion of ISRs performed robotically have increased rapidly (mean 22.6%). In addition, the dependence on robotic methods for ISR and APR increased rapidly over the study period.

CONCLUSION: The use of robotic rectal surgery has widened over the last decade in Korea, and it has been convergent with surgeries for rectal lesions located near the anal verge.