Affiliations 

  • 1 Universiti Teknologi MARA
Medical Health Reviews, 2009;2009(1):59-73.
MyJurnal

Abstract

Robotic surgery is a technique that uses mechanical, computercontrolled arms to conduct surgical operations. It carries the advantages of minimal access associated with laparoscopic surgery, and of precision associated with open surgery. It is also feasible to conduct robotic surgery with the surgeon far away, by “telerobotics”. The robot is more versatile than the human arm, and less susceptible to tremors. The view is excellent, and it is possible to conduct more intricate procedures than are possible with the human hand. Robotics has been in use for over seven years, and the initial experience shows that the success rate is over 90%, with only about 10% of cases needing to be converted to open surgery. Blood loss is low, and tumour margins in cancer surgery are satisfactory. Surgeons have used robotics for procedures in urology, gastrointestinal surgery, gynecology, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and other specialties. Presently, robotics suffers from two major disadvantages: one, that it is very expensive, and two, that robotic procedures take significantly longer than do open or laparoscopic procedures.