• P D Bhatia, D A Bottoni, and R A Malthaner.
• Division of Thoracic Surgery, London Health Sciences Centre, 800 Commissioners Rd. East, Suite E2-124, London, ON, N6A 5W9, Canada.
• Eur J Trauma Emerg S. 2011 Jun 1;37(3):297.

BackgroundWe evaluated a robotic telesurgical platform in managing thoracic trauma in an animal model.Study DesignThe da Vinci(®) robot was used to evaluate and treat a random number of blinded injuries in ten porcine thoraces.ResultsNinety-five percent of injuries were correctly identified. The median survey time was 20.5 min (range 16-63 min). The mean time to repair lung lacerations was 19.8 min (range 14-27.5 min) and to evacuate the hemothoraces, it was 5.3 min (range 4.5-6.5 min). Diaphragmatic lacerations required repositioning of the ports and the robot. Only two out of five lacerations were successfully repaired (mean time 38.8 min, range 32.5-45 min). All aortic injuries were correctly identified. One subject died of a pre-existing pneumonia.ConclusionsA robotic telesurgical approach to the evaluation of stable thoracic trauma patients is safe and feasible in a porcine model. Diaphragmatic injuries can be repaired but require repositioning of the robot.

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