This is a systematic review which sets out to compare laparoscopic vs. robotic R hemicolectomy. Standard of care has been laparoscopic procedures, however this proves to have multiple possible complications. The review pointed to some benefits of robotic R hemicolectomy over laparoscopic which includes decreased blood loss, reduced post-operative complications, shorter recovery of bowel function, fewer conversions to open surgery, and shorter length of stay. One drawback of doing this procedure robotically is that the actual procedure takes longer.

The search for research to include was done on MEDLINE. They chose to include RCTs and observational studies which reported intra-operative and/or post-operative outcomes. Studies with less than 50 participants were excluded. Data was extracted by 2 authors and a third author was used to resolve any disagreements. Initially 290 studies were found, but only 16 were chosen for inclusion. 14 of those were retrospective observational studies, one was a prospective non-randomized study and one was an RCT. Majority of them were conducted in the USA. What they found was that robotic R hemicolectomy took longer but they also had fewer conversions to open procedures. Post-op recovery of bowel function was similar between the 2 approaches. The length of stay was shorter for the robotic surgeries. Robotic procedures also make intracorporeal anastomosis easier which is another benefit. The authors make sure to mention the limitations of the study which includes the fact that there is only one RCT included. They say that more high level RCTs need to be conducted on this topic.