Using a robot to remove a cancerous bladder did not reduce complications when compared with common "open" surgeries.
Researchers looked at 118 patients Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Reuters reported. Past studies suggested the robots offered some benefits and reduced the risk of complication, but this research did not look back at the records of already-treated patients.
"There's been a lot of hype surrounding robots and it's been hard to gain perspective," said Dr. Vincent Laudone, one of the coauthors, told Reuters.
Robots have been considered valuable in procedures such as prostate removal, so researchers expected to be the same in procedures involving the bladder.
"Bottom line: It looks like it was pretty much a wash," Laudone said. "if you're going to a surgeon who is experienced in traditional surgery and recommends traditional surgery, that's a reasonable recommendation."
About 25 percent of bladder removal procedures are performed by robots, but the study found patients who had conventional surgery tended to spend 28 percent less time in the operating room. The study looked at patients who needed both their bladders and nearby lymph nodes removed.
"These results highlight the need for randomized trials to inform the benefits and risks of new surgical technologies before widespread implementation," Laudone said.
With the robotic surgery 22 percent of the 60 patients experienced a serious complication within the first 90 days, the rate was about the same with conventional surgeries. The risk of less serious complications such as needing intravenous medicine was 62 percent with robotic surgery and 68 percent with open surgery.
"It's an evolving technology and we're evolving in our learning to use the robot," Laudone said. "We're getting better as robotic surgeons, so operating time is diminishing. With prostate surgery, the same thing was true. Now, in some cases, doing it with the robot is faster. So the time difference is something I think will disappear with more experience."
