It has been over two decades since the very first robotic cardiac surgery was performed.
Over the years, there has been an increase in the demand for less invasive cardiac
surgical techniques. Developments in technology and engineering have provided an opportunity
for robotic surgery to be applied to a variety of cardiac procedures, including coronary
revascularisation, mitral valve surgery, atrial fibrillation ablation, and others.
In coronary revascularisation, it is becoming more widely used in single vessel, as
well as hybrid coronary artery approaches. Currently, several international centres
are specialising in a totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass surgery involving
multiple vessels. Mitral valve and other intracardiac pathologies such as atrial septal
defect and intracardiac tumour are also increasingly being addressed robotically.
Even though some studies have shown good results with robot-assisted cardiac surgery,
there are still concerns about safety, cost and clinical efficacy. There are also
limitations and additional challenges with the management of cardiopulmonary bypass
and myocardial protection during robotic surgery. Implementing novel strategies to
manage these challenges, together with careful patient selection can go a long way
to producing satisfactory results. This review examines the current evidence behind
robotic surgery in various aspects of cardiac surgery.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 27, 2019
Accepted:
May 14,
2019
Received in revised form:
April 17,
2019
Received:
January 25,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
