Faster Postoperative Recovery by Robotic-Assisted Surgery in Elderly Patients with Sigmoid Colon and Rectal Cancer

Currently, no published studies have compared the short-term and long-term outcomes of robotic-assisted and open surgery for elderly patients (aged 65 years or older) with sigmoid colon and rectal cancer in China. Hence, our study was conducted to assess whether robotic-assisted surgery is superior to traditional approaches. A total of 208 patients who received either open resection (n = 93) or robotic-assisted resection (n = 115) between October 2010 and October 2014 were included in the study. We compared clinical characteristic variables and patient demographics between the two approaches and assessed short- and long-term outcomes. Patient characteristics were not significantly different between the groups. First flatus postoperative days (P < 0.001), less time to liquid diet (P = .004), and shorter postoperative hospital stay (P = .046) were found in the robotic-assisted surgery group. The operation time was also more in the robotic-assisted surgery group (P = .03). The 3-year overall survival rate was 83.0% in the robotic-assisted surgery group and 78.0% in the open surgery group (P = .938). The 3-year disease free survival rate was 76.0% and 72.0% in the robotic-assisted surgery and open surgery groups, respectively (P = 0.817). No significant difference was found in the overall survival and disease-free survival between the two approaches. Robotic-assisted surgery is safe and feasible for elderly patients with sigmoid colon and rectal cancer and is associated with more operation time and faster recovery as compared to open surgery. No significant differences were found in 3-year survival outcomes between the two groups.