TY - JOUR
T1 - First-in-human robotic supermicrosurgery using a dedicated microsurgical robot for treating breast cancer-related lymphedema
T2 - a randomized pilot trial
AU - van Mulken, Tom J M
AU - Schols, Rutger M
AU - Scharmga, Andrea M J
AU - Winkens, Bjorn
AU - Cau, Raimondo
AU - Schoenmakers, Ferry B F
AU - Qiu, Shan S
AU - van der Hulst, René R W J
AU - MicroSurgical Robot Research Group
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/2/11
Y1 - 2020/2/11
N2 - Advancements in reconstructive microsurgery have evolved into supermicrosurgery; connecting vessels with diameter between 0.3 and 0.8 mm for reconstruction of lymphatic flow and vascularized tissue transplantation. Supermicrosurgery is limited by the precision and dexterity of the surgeon's hands. Robot assistance can help overcome these human limitations, thereby enabling a breakthrough in supermicrosurgery. We report the first-in-human study of robot-assisted supermicrosurgery using a dedicated microsurgical robotic platform. A prospective randomized pilot study is conducted comparing robot-assisted and manual supermicrosurgical lymphatico-venous anastomosis (LVA) in treating breast cancer-related lymphedema. We evaluate patient outcome at 1 and 3 months post surgery, duration of the surgery, and quality of the anastomosis. At 3 months, patient outcome improves. Furthermore, a steep decline in duration of time required to complete the anastomosis is observed in the robot-assisted group (33-16 min). Here, we report the feasibility of robot-assisted supermicrosurgical anastomosis in LVA, indicating promising results for the future of reconstructive supermicrosurgery.
AB - Advancements in reconstructive microsurgery have evolved into supermicrosurgery; connecting vessels with diameter between 0.3 and 0.8 mm for reconstruction of lymphatic flow and vascularized tissue transplantation. Supermicrosurgery is limited by the precision and dexterity of the surgeon's hands. Robot assistance can help overcome these human limitations, thereby enabling a breakthrough in supermicrosurgery. We report the first-in-human study of robot-assisted supermicrosurgery using a dedicated microsurgical robotic platform. A prospective randomized pilot study is conducted comparing robot-assisted and manual supermicrosurgical lymphatico-venous anastomosis (LVA) in treating breast cancer-related lymphedema. We evaluate patient outcome at 1 and 3 months post surgery, duration of the surgery, and quality of the anastomosis. At 3 months, patient outcome improves. Furthermore, a steep decline in duration of time required to complete the anastomosis is observed in the robot-assisted group (33-16 min). Here, we report the feasibility of robot-assisted supermicrosurgical anastomosis in LVA, indicating promising results for the future of reconstructive supermicrosurgery.
KW - Aged
KW - Anastomosis, Surgical/methods
KW - Breast Neoplasms/surgery
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Lymphedema/complications
KW - Microsurgery/methods
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Netherlands
KW - Pilot Projects
KW - Prospective Studies
KW - Reconstructive Surgical Procedures
KW - Robotic Surgical Procedures/instrumentation
KW - FEASIBILITY
KW - EFFICACY
KW - LYMPHATICOVENULAR ANASTOMOSIS
KW - PERFORM
KW - MICROVASCULAR ANASTOMOSIS
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-019-14188-w
DO - 10.1038/s41467-019-14188-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 32047155
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 757
ER -