Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) today said that results from a study evaluating robotic-assisted hysterectomies were published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, indicating fewer complications in robot-assisted surgeries compared to conventional methods.
The study reported that individuals who underwent the surgery with the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company’s da Vinci robotic system experienced fewer intraoperative complications than patients who underwent traditional abdominal or vaginal procedures, or those who had a laparoscopic procedure.
“It’s long been clear that minimally invasive hysterectomy can help reduce complications and speed recovery. But past studies comparing open and minimally invasive approaches compared less experienced robotic-assisted surgeons with colleagues in other approaches. This study is designed to compare only the outcomes of similarly experienced surgeons, regardless of surgical approach, which provides a much more accurate picture of comparative effectiveness,” Dr. Peter Lim of Nevada’s Renown Regional Medical Center said in a press release. “Women in the robotic-assisted group had higher rates of obesity, adhesions and large uterus, suggesting that the robotic technology actually enables surgeons to perform surgery on more complex cases. This study gives women and the surgeons who care for them important insights to inform their decision making.”
Over 32,000 benign hysterectomy cases were analyzed in the study, which compared 30-day outcomes from robotic-assisted hysterectomies performed by high-volume surgeons with data from high-volume surgeons who performed abdominal, vaginal and laparoscopic hysterectomies, obtained from the Premier Perspective database. Included in the analysis were 2,300 robotic assisted surgeries, 9,745 abdominal, 8,121 vaginal and 11,952 laparoscopic surgeries, Intuitive Surgical reported.
“This study provides compelling and valuable evidence on the advantages of robotic-assisted benign hysterectomy. For women undergoing these procedures, the benefits of robotic-assisted surgery shown in this study carry real and tangible results for their recovery and return to everyday life,” chief medical officer Dr. Myriam Curet said in a prepared statement.
Last month, Intuitive Surgical announced the joint 510(k) clearance for it and Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE:HRC) Trumpf Medical division’s Integrated Table Motion for its da Vinci Xi surgical system, which combines the robotic system and Trumpf’s TruSystem 7000dv advanced operating table.
The newly cleared Integrated table motion allows the operator to make a “comprehensive range of table adjustments” during surgical procedures, the company said. The table can be repositioned in real time while the robotic arms on the da Vinci system are docked, allowing the surgical system access to more regions of patients.