• Rong Liu, Qu Liu, Zhi-Ming Zhao, Xiang-Long Tan, Yuan-Xing Gao, and Guo-Dong Zhao.
• Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgical Oncology, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital, Beijing, China.
• J Surg Oncol. 2017 Sep 1; 116 (4): 461-469.

BackgroundRobotic distal pancreatectomy (RDP) is considered a safe and feasible alternative to laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP). However, previous studies have some limitations including small sample size and selection bias. This study aimed to evaluate whether the robotic approach has advantages over laparoscopic surgery in distal pancreatectomy.MethodsDemographics and perioperative outcomes among patients undergoing RDP (n = 102) and LDP (n = 102) between January 2011 and December 2015 were reviewed. A 1:1 propensity score matched analysis was performed between both groups.ResultsBoth groups displayed no significant differences in perioperative outcomes including operative time, blood loss, transfusion rate, and rates of overall morbidities and pancreatic fistula. Robotic approach reduced the rate of conversion to laparotomy (2.9% vs 9.8%, P = 0.045), especially in patients with large tumors (0% vs 22.2%, P = 0.042). RDP improved spleen (SP) and splenic vessels preservation (SVP) rates in patients with moderate tumors (60.0% vs 35.5%, P = 0.047; 37.1% vs 12.9%, P = 0.025), especially in patients without malignancy (95.5% vs 52.4%, P = 0.001; 59.1% vs 19.0%, P = 0.007). RDP also reduced postoperative hospital stay (PHS) significantly (7.67% vs 8.58, P = 0.032).ConclusionsRDP is associated with less rate of conversion to laparotomy, shorter PHS, and improved SP and SVP rates in selected patients than LDP.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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