Longer operating times and no clear advantage to robotic-assisted hysterectomy.
When feasible, vaginal or other minimally invasive approaches to hysterectomy for benign gynecologic conditions are preferred over abdominal surgery, but the question of whether robotic-assisted laparoscopy is superior to traditional laparoscopy remains unsettled. In a randomized trial involving 95 patients with benign disease, two Swiss gynecologic surgeons with experience in laparoscopic surgery assessed operating times, outcomes, and patients' quality of life associated with robotic-assisted versus conventional laparoscopic hysterectomy. For robotic surgeries, net operating time was defined as total time minus robot docking time, and corresponds to time devoted to the surgery itself.
In the robotic group, mean total operating time (106 mi…