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Robotic ventral hernia repair is not superior to laparoscopic: a national database review

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Abstract

Background

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) use for ventral hernia repair has increased over the last decade. Whether outcomes are improved by robotic assistance remains a subject of debate. The aim of this study is to evaluate outcomes (including cost, complications, length of stay (LOS), and pain medication utilization) in patients who underwent an open (OVHR), laparoscopic (LVHR), or robotic (RVHR) ventral hernia repair (VHR).

Methods

The Vizient database was queried using ICD-9 procedure and diagnosis codes for patients who underwent VHR from January 2013 to September 2015. Complications, 30-day readmission, mortality, LOS, cost, and intra-hospital opiate utilization were analyzed using IBM SPSS v.23.0.0.0. Median tests with post hoc pairwise comparisons, Fischer’s exact, and Pearson’s chi-squared test with Bonferroni correction were applied where appropriate, with α = 0.05.

Results

46,799 patients (OVHR: N = 39,505, LVHR: N = 6829, RVHR: N = 465) met the criteria and patients in each group had similar demographics (Table 1). OVHR was associated with significant increased overall complications, 30-day readmission, LOS, and postoperative pain use compared to RVHR or LVHR. OVHR had higher mortality and postoperative infection rates than LVHR. RVHR had significantly higher rates of complications and postoperative infections compared to LVHR, although there was no difference in mortality, 30-day readmission, LOS, and postoperative pain medication use. Mean direct cost of surgery was significantly higher for RVHR, followed by OVHR and LVHR.

Conclusions

Overall patient outcomes were improved in the LVHR and RVHR groups compared to the open approach. However, RVHR patients did not have significant improvement compared with the LVHR group in either short-term outcomes or opiate medication used. While RVHR surgery was the most expensive modality, OVHR was also significantly costlier than LVHR, which was the least expensive. Long-term data on recurrence could not be evaluated and should be studied to determine the role of robotic surgery in VHR and recurrence rates.

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Funding

Funding for this study was provided by the Center for Advanced Surgical Technology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Foundation for Surgical Fellows.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Surgical Technology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986245 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-6246, USA

    Priscila Armijo & Dmitry Oleynikov

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986245 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-6246, USA

    Akshay Pratap & Dmitry Oleynikov

  3. College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 984355 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-4355, USA

    Yi Wang & Valerie Shostrom

Authors
  1. Priscila Armijo
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  2. Akshay Pratap
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  3. Yi Wang
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  4. Valerie Shostrom
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  5. Dmitry Oleynikov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dmitry Oleynikov.

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Disclosures

Dmitry Oleynikov is a shareholder in Virtual Incision Corporation. Priscila Rodrigues Armijo, Akshay Pratap, Yi Wang, and Valerie Shostrom have no conflict of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Armijo, P., Pratap, A., Wang, Y. et al. Robotic ventral hernia repair is not superior to laparoscopic: a national database review. Surg Endosc 32, 1834–1839 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-017-5872-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-017-5872-7

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