Robot-assisted surgery for kidney removal

- associated with longer operating times, higher cost

A Stanford study of nearly 24,000 patients with kidney cancer concluded that robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries are associated with increases in operating times and cost compared with conventional laparoscopic surgeries.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery to remove a patient’s entire kidney requires slightly longer operating times and results in increased costs compared with the use of traditional laparoscopic surgery, according to a large, multiyear analysis conducted by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.