Feasibility of initiating robotic surgery during the early stages of gastrointestinal surgery education

Minimally invasive surgery for gastrointestinal cancers is rapidly advancing; therefore, surgical education must be changed. This study aimed to examine the feasibility of early initiation of robotic surgery education for surgical residents.

The ability of staff physicians and residents to handle robotic surgical instruments was assessed using the da Vinci^® skills simulator (DVSS). The short-term outcomes of 32 patients with colon cancer who underwent robot-assisted colectomy (RAC) by staff physicians and residents, supervised by a dual console system, between August 2022 and March 2024 were compared.

The performances of four basic exercises were assessed after implementation of the DVSS. Residents required less time to complete these exercises and achieved a higher overall score than staff physicians. There were no significant differences in the short-term outcomes, operative time, blood loss, incidence of postoperative complications, and length of the postoperative hospital stay of the two surgeon groups.

Based on the evaluation involving the DVSS and RAC results, it appears feasible to begin robotic surgery training at an early stage of surgical education using a dual console system.