Robotic bile duct stone surgery: fewer complications

Removing large common bile duct stones with a robot rather than laparoscopically was linked to fewer complications and shorter hospital stays, at a higher cost, in a study from one Chinese hospital.

• 106 matched pairs with stones of at least 1 cm had robotic or laparoscopic duct exploration.
• The robot meant faster duct suturing, less bleeding, fewer bowel injuries, fewer bile leaks and fewer conversions.

This was a look back at one center’s records using a new port setup: it shows a link, not proof that the robot is better.

• Adhesions around the liver hilum raised complication risk, and the robot did well in these harder cases.