The mean length of stay in the study was slightly, but not statistically significantly, longer in the robotic arm (1.8 vs. 1.7 days; P = 0.17). There was no statistically significant difference in in-hospital mortality.
The laparoscopic group had more men than did the robotic group (21.4% vs. 19.7%, respectively) and more chronic steroid use (1.7% vs. 1.3%), plus more patients were dependent on oxygen (0.7% vs. 0.3%). The robotic group had more obstructive sleep apnea than did the laparoscopic group (37.3% vs. 36% of cases) and a higher incidence of hypoalbuminemia (8.4% vs. 7%). The analysis adjusted for the differences.
The findings were pretty much the same when the team repeated their analysis with the 2016 database numbers, which were released while the SAGES presentation was being prepared. The only big difference was an increase in the number of robotic cases, up from 6.1% in 2015 to 6.6% of cases in 2016.
The was no external funding for the work, and the investigators had no relevant disclosures.
SOURCE: Alizadeh RF et al. SAGES 2018, Abstract S024.