Robotic system could improve keyhole bowel cancer surgery

The worldwide trial, led by researchers at Leeds University, will show whether robotic assistance makes it easier to remove bowel tumours using laparoscopic or ’keyhole’ techniques and whether using this approach makes the cancer less likely to reoccur.

The study will also show whether giving surgeons a robotic ’helping hand’ means that patients spend less time in hospital after keyhole bowel surgery and suffer fewer complications.

Many operations to remove bowel tumours can now be done using keyhole surgery, during which surgeons use special elongated instruments, inserted through small holes in the abdominal wall, to remove cancers. In the hands of an experienced surgeon, keyhole surgery is just as good as open surgery for curing bowel cancer. Patients who have their tumours removed via keyhole surgery also benefit from shorter hospital stays and faster recovery times.

However, removing a bowel cancer using keyhole surgery is a challenging procedure. Sometimes surgeons have to switch to open surgery mid-way through the operation and make a large cut in the patient’s stomach to get to the cancer.