Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges

Transoral robotic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that recently debuted in Malaysia. However, there are concerns over its cost, practicality, and feasibility in local settings. Our study aims to evaluate the surgical outcomes of transoral robotic surgery and discuss its learning c...

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Published in:Journal of Robotic Surgery
Main Author: Mahmud K.A.; Ghazali F.N.F.; Zahari M.N.I.; Halim H.A.; Khalid A.K.; Toh S.T.; Yunus M.R.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2023
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85139248093&doi=10.1007%2fs11701-022-01456-z&partnerID=40&md5=1882ba4a84765b55fcd38e1b4a3c5065
id 2-s2.0-85139248093
spelling 2-s2.0-85139248093
Mahmud K.A.; Ghazali F.N.F.; Zahari M.N.I.; Halim H.A.; Khalid A.K.; Toh S.T.; Yunus M.R.M.
Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
2023
Journal of Robotic Surgery
17
2
10.1007/s11701-022-01456-z
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85139248093&doi=10.1007%2fs11701-022-01456-z&partnerID=40&md5=1882ba4a84765b55fcd38e1b4a3c5065
Transoral robotic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that recently debuted in Malaysia. However, there are concerns over its cost, practicality, and feasibility in local settings. Our study aims to evaluate the surgical outcomes of transoral robotic surgery and discuss its learning curves. The clinical records of all patients who underwent transoral robotic surgery in a university hospital were reviewed. 25 patients were identified with a mean age of 43.9 years. The commonest indication was obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (76%), followed by base of tongue carcinoma (16%), recurrent tonsilitis and Wharton's duct cyst (4% each). For excision of tongue base in obstructive sleep apnoea without epiglottectomy, the mean operating time was 2.3(±0.9) hours with an average of 2.8(±0.4) days of hospital stay. The success rate for OSA surgery was seen in 78.9% of cases. The mean operating time for transoral excision of tongue base carcinoma was 4.3(±2.5) hours, whereas the mean hospital stay was 9(±3.6) days. All surgical margins were cleared with no recurrence except for one patient. The recurrent tumour was successfully excised via transoral robotic surgery, and he remained disease free after one year. The most frequent post-operative complaints were dysphagia, post-nasal drip, and hypogeusia. Transoral robotic surgery in Malaysia is in the commencement phase, where some pitfalls are expected. Opportunities should be given for more surgeons to acquire this technique so that minimally invasive surgery for head and neck diseases is readily available for patients in middle-income countries. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
Springer Nature
18632483
English
Article

author Mahmud K.A.; Ghazali F.N.F.; Zahari M.N.I.; Halim H.A.; Khalid A.K.; Toh S.T.; Yunus M.R.M.
spellingShingle Mahmud K.A.; Ghazali F.N.F.; Zahari M.N.I.; Halim H.A.; Khalid A.K.; Toh S.T.; Yunus M.R.M.
Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
author_facet Mahmud K.A.; Ghazali F.N.F.; Zahari M.N.I.; Halim H.A.; Khalid A.K.; Toh S.T.; Yunus M.R.M.
author_sort Mahmud K.A.; Ghazali F.N.F.; Zahari M.N.I.; Halim H.A.; Khalid A.K.; Toh S.T.; Yunus M.R.M.
title Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
title_short Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
title_full Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
title_fullStr Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
title_full_unstemmed Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
title_sort Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges
publishDate 2023
container_title Journal of Robotic Surgery
container_volume 17
container_issue 2
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s11701-022-01456-z
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85139248093&doi=10.1007%2fs11701-022-01456-z&partnerID=40&md5=1882ba4a84765b55fcd38e1b4a3c5065
description Transoral robotic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that recently debuted in Malaysia. However, there are concerns over its cost, practicality, and feasibility in local settings. Our study aims to evaluate the surgical outcomes of transoral robotic surgery and discuss its learning curves. The clinical records of all patients who underwent transoral robotic surgery in a university hospital were reviewed. 25 patients were identified with a mean age of 43.9 years. The commonest indication was obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (76%), followed by base of tongue carcinoma (16%), recurrent tonsilitis and Wharton's duct cyst (4% each). For excision of tongue base in obstructive sleep apnoea without epiglottectomy, the mean operating time was 2.3(±0.9) hours with an average of 2.8(±0.4) days of hospital stay. The success rate for OSA surgery was seen in 78.9% of cases. The mean operating time for transoral excision of tongue base carcinoma was 4.3(±2.5) hours, whereas the mean hospital stay was 9(±3.6) days. All surgical margins were cleared with no recurrence except for one patient. The recurrent tumour was successfully excised via transoral robotic surgery, and he remained disease free after one year. The most frequent post-operative complaints were dysphagia, post-nasal drip, and hypogeusia. Transoral robotic surgery in Malaysia is in the commencement phase, where some pitfalls are expected. Opportunities should be given for more surgeons to acquire this technique so that minimally invasive surgery for head and neck diseases is readily available for patients in middle-income countries. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
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