The twenty-first century role of Piver-Rutledge type III radical hysterectomy and FIGO stage IA, IB1, and IB2 cervical cancer in the era of robotic surgery: a personal perspective.

Type III radical hysterectomy reported in 1974 by Piver, Rutledge, and Smith is considered worldwide by many as the standard surgical therapy for invasive cervical carcinoma stage IB and IIA. With the increasing number of robotic surgeries being performed for early stage cervical cancer worldwide, the purpose of the paper is to present our personal perspective of the 21st century role of Piver-Rutledge type III radical hysterectomy for stage IB cervical cancer in the era of robotic surgery using the da Vinci robot.