Current status of robotic single-port colonic surgery

Introduction: The present paper reviews evidence and examines updates in single-port robotic surgery for colonic diseases reported in contemporary studies.

Materials and methods: A comprehensive online systematic search of PubMed databases was carried out in June 2015, identifying studies conducted on robotic single-port colectomy from 2008 to 2015.

Results: The advantages and disadvantages of several available port-access systems, techniques for configuring robotic arms, and robotic surgical platforms, were presented.

Conclusions: Current studies show that single-port robotic colectomy is a safe and feasible procedure despite the lack of supporting evidence. Although significant advancements in the development and modification of single-access ports, configuration of robotic arms, and robotic surgical platforms have been achieved in the field of single-port robotic surgery for colonic disease, significant improvements to surgical platforms for single-port robotic surgery are needed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.