The da Vinci surgical system in digestive surgery]

Since 1990, laparoscopy and minimally invasive techniques in general, have been widely adopted in the field of digestive surgery. However, due to its technical limitations, the use of conventional laparoscopy remains limited to procedures of low (cholecystectomy, appendectomy) or intermediate (Nissen fundoplication, sigmoidectomy) complexity. This paper reviews the technical aspects of the da Vinci robot, as well as its potential applications to digestive surgery. While robotic-assisted cholecystectomy and fundoplication are feasible, this approach is not superior to conventional laparoscopy; by contrast, preliminary data suggest that robotic-assisted surgery might be superior to laparoscopy in more complex procedures, such as gastric bypass and total mesorectum excision for rectal cancer.