Adenomyosis is a benign disorder of uterus and remarkable cause of dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, menorrhagia
and infertility of which mechanism has not yet been fully resolved [2] .
Robotic surgery is used not only in hysterectomy in gynecology, but also in various fields such as surgeries for endometriosis patients with pelvic nerves involved and pelvic organ prolapse. [11], [12]
The gold standard of its treatment is hysterectomy. Nowadays, the mean age of women on giving birth to their first child is gradually rising. Therefore patients are more likely to prefer conservative surgery.
A consensus has not yet been reached regarding the conservative surgical approach to be used in the treatment of women with the desire for reserving fertility. These uterus-sparing methods are aimed at significant improvement of symptoms permanently. Many techniques have been developed for the incomplete and complete excision of the tissue in adenomyosis surgery. The triple flap method described by Osada in 2011 is of great importance in the history of conservative adenomyosis surgery, which first started with wedge resection described by Hyams in 1952 and was developed furthermore later on. In Osada procedure, the abnormal adenomyotic tissue is completely resected, leaving a 1 cm margin of tissue adjacent to both endometrial and serosal layers. This is followed by uterine wall reconstruction[10]. Osada performed this surgery by laparotomy and now conservative adenomyosis surgery can be planned as both laparotomy and minimally invasive approach.
Unfortunately, lack of a clear demarcation line between adenomyosis tissue and normal myometrial tissue makes this surgery arduous. Another challenging step is suturing the resulting defective tissue without leaving a gap which is an inevitable necessity for patients willing to conceive.
Minimally invasive approach can be considered as an alternative to laparotomy in terms of patient comfort [10].
Recent evidences suggest that minimally invasive techniques are linked to reduced bleeding, rapid recovery, less hospital stay and less complications when compared to laparotomy [13]. As a result of studies which comparing these techniques, claimed that laparoscopy may be a choice in focal lesions due to less pain, rapid recovery and decreased blood loss, but laparotomy may be preferred in diffuse adenomyosis due to reduced menorrhagia and recurrence [14], [15].
Meanwhile robotic surgery is becoming more and more widespread in the medical field, it makes technically challenging surgeries such as adenomyomectomy easier to perform[16].
Robotic surgery, which is a minimally invasive surgical method, seems to be more capable to fully remove adenomyotic tissue as it increases the wrist movements of the surgeon. Due to the linear movements of the laparoscopic instruments, it is difficult to suture the defective area. Thanks to the 3D image quality provided by the robotic system and the multi-joint 'endowrist' movement of the robotic arms in 7 different axes, suturation can be performed without leaving any defective areas behind.
In a study conducted by Chong et al in 2016 which compares the long term efficacy of robotic adenomyomectomy and laparoscopic adenomyomectomy showed no statistical difference in terms of surgical outcomes, except the prolonged duration of the operation time and suturing time which is regarded as a disadvantage of robotic surgery[17].
A case series were done in 2016 by Chung with 4 patients whom underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic adenomyomectomy. They found that robot assisted laparoscopy was superior compared to open myomectomy concerning blood loss, hospital stays, recovery times and adhesion rates.
In 2019, Shim et al compared surgical outcomes between robotic and laparoscopic adenomyomectomy. Laparoscopy demonstrated no statistical difference found weight of adenomyotic tissue removed and duration of hospital stay[18].
According to literature review, robotic adenomyomectomy studies performed so far are demonstrated in Table 3.
Table 3
Robotic adenomyomectomy surgeries in the literature
Year | Author | Design | N | Type | Technique | Results |
2013 | Barton et al[19] | Retrospective Cohort | 2 | Focal | Robot-assisted adenomyomectomy | Mean op time:169.5 ± 47.3 min Mean Blood Loss:25mL |
2015 | Ma et al[20] | Retrospective Cohort | 23 | Focal | Robot-assisted Laparoscopy | As compared with L/T and Robotic surgery, Robotic Surgery had Less estimated blood loss during operation(250 ± 249.6 mL vs 690.91 ± 776.47 mL) Shorter postoperative hospital days (2.57 vs 4.0 days). The dysmenorrhea and pelvic pain of the patients nearly disapeared after surgery. |
2016 | Chong et al[21] | Prospective Cohort | 33 | Focal:27 Diffuse:6 | Robotic:8 L/S:25 | No difference in blood loss, Hg change, length of hospital stay, complication rate Mean op time& suturing time, longer in robotic group |
2016 | Chung et al[22] | Case Series | 4 | Focal:4 | Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery | Mean op time: 159.25 ± 93.06 Mean estimated blood loss: 117.5 ± 56.78 mL Dysmenorrhea&Pelvic Pain nearly disappeard 1–2 weeks after surgery |
2019 | Shim et al[23] | Retrospective Cohort | 43 | Focal:35 Diffuse:8 | L/S:21(Focal:17 Diffuse:4) Robotic:22(Focal:18 Diffuse:4) | No difference in operative time, estimated blood loss, weight of resected nodule, length of hospital stay No serious perioperative complication observed in both group |
2021 | Hijazi et al[24] | Retrospective Cohort | 34 | Focal:14 Diffuse:19 | Robot-assisted Laparoscopy | Mean uterine wall thickness 4.02 cm ± 1.11 dropping to 2.37 cm ± 0.84 postoperatively this led to a mean drop of 41% in the thickness of the affected Wall Total operative time, min, mean ± SD 279.82 ± 69.02 (141–436) EBL (mL), 296.47 ± 160.77 (50–700) Mean preoperative pain score 8.68 ± 1.12, while the postoperative mean was 0.06 ± 0.34 Hb drop, 2.31 ± 1.18 (4.7- þ0.6) |
Although there are not enough meta-analysis studies, according to the meta-analysis results of Lavazzo and his collagues provided a comprehensive meta-analysis of minimally invasive techniques in myoma surgery in 2016, they concluded that robotic surgery was better than laparoscopic surgery as shown in its less bleeding and blood transfusion need, lower complication rates, and shorter hospital stay in the postoperative period[25].
On the basis of these findings that robotic surgery may be superior to laparoscopy and will be preferred by surgeons and patients in conservative adenomyosis surgery.
Limitations of this study are the presence of concurrent endometriosis and the fact that endometriosis surgery would be performed at the same time in most of the cases may have an impact on the decision to perform the operation with robotic approach and this can effect pain scores of the patients.