Proficiency in robot-assisted esophagectomy improves after 27 cases

A study on robot-assisted minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy revealed a significant reduction in operation time associated with increased surgical proficiency. Analyzing 83 cases, researchers found that transitioning from the initial learning phase (cases 1-27) to the proficiency phase (cases 28-83) resulted in a drop in mean operation time from 329.6 minutes to 221.3 minutes (p<0.001). These findings aid surgical training and highlight the importance of mastering technical skills before broad implementation.