The safe introduction of robotic surgery in a free-standing children's hospital.
Matthew T Hey, Mackenzie Mayhew, Stephanie Masterson, Juan Calisto, Shahab Shaffiey, Leopoldo Malvezzi, Fuad Alkhoury
Author Information
Matthew T Hey: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC2, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
Mackenzie Mayhew: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC2, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
Stephanie Masterson: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, 3200 SW 60 Court #201, Miami, FL, 33155, USA.
Juan Calisto: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC2, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
Shahab Shaffiey: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC2, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
Leopoldo Malvezzi: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC2, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
Fuad Alkhoury: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street AHC2, Miami, FL, 33199, USA. Fuad.Alkhoury@Nicklaushealth.org.
The aim of this study is to report the experience of implementing a pediatric robotic surgery program at a free-standing pediatric teaching hospital. A database was created to prospectively collect perioperative data for all robotic surgeries performed by the pediatric surgery department. The database was queried for all operations completed from October 2015 to December 2021. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the dataset, using median and interquartile ranges for continuous variables. From October 2015 to December 2021, a total of 249 robotic surgeries were performed in the department of pediatric surgery. Of the 249 cases, 170 (68.3%) were female and 79 (31.7%) were male. Across all patients, there was a median weight (IQR) of 62.65 kg (48.2-76.68 kg) and a median (IQR) age of 16 years (13-18 years). The median (IQR) operative time was 104 min (79.0-138 min). The median console time was 54.0 min (33.0-76.0 min) and the median docking time was 7 min (5-11 min). The majority of procedures were performed on the biliary tree (52.6%). In the 249 procedures, there were no technical failures of the robot and only two operations (0.8%) were converted to open procedures and one (0.4%) to laparoscopic. This study highlights the ability to successfully integrate a pediatric robotic surgery program into a free-standing children's hospital with a low conversion rate. Additionally, the program extended across multiple surgical procedures and offered real-time exposure to advanced surgical techniques for current and aspiring pediatric surgery trainees.
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