Yang Yang1, Bin Li1, Rong Hua1, Xiaobin Zhang1, Haoyao Jiang1, Yifeng Sun1, Giulia Veronesi2,3, Sara Ricciardi4, Monica Casiraghi5, Marion Durand6, Raul Caso7, Inderpal S Sarkaria8, ZhiGang Li9. 1. Division of Esophageal Surgery, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. 2. Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy. 3. IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. 4. Unit of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. 5. European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy. 6. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hôpital Privé D'Antony, Ramsay Générale de Santé, Antony, France. 7. Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA. 8. Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. 9. Division of Esophageal Surgery, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. zhigang_li_sch@163.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the results of the quality assessment and the learning curve of robot-assisted minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy (RAMIE-MK). METHODS: The study retrospectively reviewed the data of 400 consecutive patients with esophageal cancer who underwent RAMIE-MK by a single surgeon from November 2015 to March 2019. Cumulative summation analysis of the learning curve was performed. The patients were divided into decile cohorts of 40 cases to minimize demographic deviations and to maximize the power of detecting statistically significant changes in performance. RESULTS: The 90-day mortality rate for all the patients was 0.5% (2 cases). The authors' experience was divided into the ascending phase (40 cases), the plateau phase (175 cases), and the descending phase (185 cases). After 40 cases, significant improvements in operative time (328 vs. 251 min; P = 0.019), estimated blood loss (350 vs. 200 ml; P = 0.031), and conversion rates (12.5% vs. 2.5%; P < 0.001) were observed. After 80 cases, a decrease in the rates of anastomotic leakage (22.5% vs. 8.1%; P = 0.001) and vocal cord palsy (31.3% vs. 18.4%; P = 0.024) was observed. The number of harvested lymph nodes increased after 40 cases (13 vs. 23; P < 0.001), especially for lymph nodes along the recurrent laryngeal nerve (3.0 vs. 6.0; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The learning phase of RAMIE-MK consists of 40 cases, and quality outcomes can be improved after 80 procedures. Several turning points related to the optimization of surgical outcomes can be used as benchmarks for surgeons performing RAMIE-MK.
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the results of the quality assessment and the learning curve of robot-assisted minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy (RAMIE-MK). METHODS: The study retrospectively reviewed the data of 400 consecutive patients with esophageal cancer who underwent RAMIE-MK by a single surgeon from November 2015 to March 2019. Cumulative summation analysis of the learning curve was performed. The patients were divided into decile cohorts of 40 cases to minimize demographic deviations and to maximize the power of detecting statistically significant changes in performance. RESULTS: The 90-day mortality rate for all the patients was 0.5% (2 cases). The authors' experience was divided into the ascending phase (40 cases), the plateau phase (175 cases), and the descending phase (185 cases). After 40 cases, significant improvements in operative time (328 vs. 251 min; P = 0.019), estimated blood loss (350 vs. 200 ml; P = 0.031), and conversion rates (12.5% vs. 2.5%; P < 0.001) were observed. After 80 cases, a decrease in the rates of anastomotic leakage (22.5% vs. 8.1%; P = 0.001) and vocal cord palsy (31.3% vs. 18.4%; P = 0.024) was observed. The number of harvested lymph nodes increased after 40 cases (13 vs. 23; P < 0.001), especially for lymph nodes along the recurrent laryngeal nerve (3.0 vs. 6.0; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The learning phase of RAMIE-MK consists of 40 cases, and quality outcomes can be improved after 80 procedures. Several turning points related to the optimization of surgical outcomes can be used as benchmarks for surgeons performing RAMIE-MK.