Robotic surgery shows better long-term outcomes for middle and low rectal cancer compared to laparoscopic techniques.

• 3-year disease-free survival rate: 86.7% for robotics vs. 83.3% for laparoscopy (p=0.017).
• Lower 3-year locoregional recurrence (2.2% vs. 4.7%, p=0.001) and postoperative complications (14.3% vs. 19.5%, p<0.001) with robotic surgery.

This suggests robotic techniques may enhance surgical decision-making and patient outcomes in rectal cancer interventions.

• Abdominoperineal resection rate was lower at 7.5% vs. 12.4% (p<0.001).