[The development of TORS in Europe].

Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) using the da Vinci® System is being performed increasingly on an international level. Particularly in the US, TORS is a common and popular technique. It has several advantages over the alternative minimally invasive surgical technique of laser surgery: the 3D-HD lens generates a magnified, three dimensional deep-field view of the surgical site; the instrument has an exceptionally high degree of freedom and, in contrast to laser surgery, non-tangential incisions are possible. TORS is also being performed more frequently in Germany. At present, 10 TORS proctor surgeons with approval from Intuitive Surgical, Inc. are working in France, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy and Germany and helping to establish new TORS teams. This review article presents a summary of the literature that has been published by these European TORS experts to date.