Robot-assisted interventions in colorectal surgery: First experience of the Moscow Multidisciplinary Clinical Centre “Kommunarka”

Background. In the last decade, robot-assisted technologies became an important part of development of microinvasive surgery, especially colorectal surgery which requires high accuracy of manipulations and sparing of functionally significant anatomical structures.

Aim. To analyze experience of robot-assisted interventions in patients with tumors of the rectum and sigmoid colon accumulated in a large medical center.

Materials and methods. Between December 2023 and April 2026 at the Moscow Multidisciplinary Clinical Centre “Kommunarka”, Moscow Healthcare Department, 535 patients with colorectal cancer underwent surgery using a robotic surgical platform. Among them, 384 patients were diagnosed with tumors of the colon, 151 – with tumors of the rectum.

Results. Conversion was required in 6 cases: in 3 into laparoscopy, in 3 into laparotomy. In 12 cases grade I–II postoperative complications per the Clavien–Dindo classification were reported; in 7 cases – grade II; in 2 cases – grade IV, in 4 cases – grade V. Comparison of characteristics of the first 10 and last 10 robot-assisted interventions due to colorectal cancer showed that while complexity of surgical situations increased, results remained high, and mean operative time decreased to 241 min.

Conclusion. Results of the analysis show that with accumulation of experience, efficacy of interactions between team members and their adaptation to the features of the robotic system improved, including during complex clinical situations. This confirms that robot-assisted surgery is a growingly important part of modern colorectal surgery.

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