Costs in Robotic Colorectal Surgery

Abstract

The use of robotic colorectal (CR) surgery has been increasing steadily, especially for proctectomy. Although controversy over improved results compared to other conventional approaches still exists, one of the most commonly reported drawbacks of robotics is its high procedure-related cost. However, economic analysis of robotic CR surgery is limited by the paucity and heterogeneity of the available data and by the poor and inadequate methodological quality of previous studies. Therefore, a more comprehensive analysis of the cost-effectiveness of robotic CR surgery should take into account different factors including those strictly related to the operating room costs and those related to the clinical outcomes. On this basis, according to the latest evidence from the literature, although robotic colectomy seems not to be cost-effective compared with laparoscopic colectomy, robotic proctectomy may prove cost-effective if modest differences in operating costs or postoperative length of stay can be achieved. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the current state of costs in robotic CR surgery considering some objective preliminary aspects and providing future perspectives.