Robotic Aortic Surgery

Surgical robotics was first utilized to facilitate neurosurgical biopsies in 1985, and it has since found application in orthopedics, urology, gynecology, and cardiothoracic, general, and vascular surgery.¹ Surgical assistance systems provide intelligent, versatile tools that augment the physician’s ability to treat patients by eliminating hand tremor and enabling dexterous operation inside the patient’s body. Surgical robotics systems have enabled surgeons to treat otherwise untreatable conditions while also reducing morbidity and error rates, shortening operative times, reducing radiation exposure, and improving overall workflow.² These capabilities have begun to be realized in two important realms of aortic vascular surgery, namely, flexible robotics for exclusion of complex aortic aneurysms using branched endografts, and robot-assisted laparoscopic aortic surgery for occlusive and aneurysmal disease.