Society for Laproendoscopic Surgeons (SLS): Minimally Invasive Surgery Week

BOSTON – Laparoscopic staging of patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma is a safe alternative to open staging and may offer some advantages, according to findings presented at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“Traditionally, serous papillary cancer has been treated different than the other endometrial cancers, the reason being is that it tends to behave more like ovarian cancer,” Jeanette Voice, MD, of Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island, N.Y., said at the meeting, which was held by the Society for Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. “Patients with serous papillary cancer tend to be older [so] these patients may benefit from a less invasive surgical approach.”

Dr. Voice and her coinvestigators conducted an 8-year retrospective study of laparoscopic and open-staged cases treated from March 2007 through May 2015. Initially, 59 patients with pathology-confirmed uterine papillary serous carcinoma were identified over that time period, and were divided into two cohorts: one receiving open surgery (37 patients) and one receiving laparoscopic surgery (22 patients).

Median age, body mass index, and prior abdominal surgery rate were not significantly different between the two cohorts.

In terms of intraoperative factors, median operative times for the open and laparoscopic cohorts were similar: 196 minutes versus 216 minutes, respectively (P = .561). Similarly, the number of pelvic lymph node dissections and rate of omentectomy were also not significantly different: 18 nodes (open) versus 16 nodes (laparoscopic) (P = .96), and 100% (open) versus 91% (laparoscopic) (P = .08).

However, laparoscopic patients had more favorable median estimated blood loss (310 mL versus 175 mL, P = .048) and shorter hospital stays (4 days versus 1 day, P less than .042).

Laparoscopic patients also achieved more robust debulking to zero centimeter residual disease, with 90.5% of patients achieving it versus 65.7% of those in the open surgery cohort, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = .1).

In terms of postoperative adjuvant therapy – brachytherapy, external beam radiation, and chemotherapy – there were no significant differences in outcomes between the two cohorts. Recurrence rates were also similar, with nine recurrences in the open cohort and eight recurrences in the laparoscopic cohort. The estimated 36-month progression-free survival rates were “almost identical,” with 55.3% in the open cohort versus 53.3% in the laparoscopic (P = .727), according to Dr. Voice.

Postoperative complications were more common in the open surgery cohort (29.7%), compared with 13.6% in the laparoscopic cohort, but no statistically significant difference was found between them (P = .16).

Dr. Voice did not report information on financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Laparoscopic staging of patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma is a safe alternative to open staging and may offer some advantages, according to findings presented at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“Traditionally, serous papillary cancer has been treated different than the other endometrial cancers, the reason being is that it tends to behave more like ovarian cancer,” Jeanette Voice, MD, of Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island, N.Y., said at the meeting, which was held by the Society for Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. “Patients with serous papillary cancer tend to be older [so] these patients may benefit from a less invasive surgical approach.”

Dr. Voice and her coinvestigators conducted an 8-year retrospective study of laparoscopic and open-staged cases treated from March 2007 through May 2015. Initially, 59 patients with pathology-confirmed uterine papillary serous carcinoma were identified over that time period, and were divided into two cohorts: one receiving open surgery (37 patients) and one receiving laparoscopic surgery (22 patients).

Median age, body mass index, and prior abdominal surgery rate were not significantly different between the two cohorts.

In terms of intraoperative factors, median operative times for the open and laparoscopic cohorts were similar: 196 minutes versus 216 minutes, respectively (P = .561). Similarly, the number of pelvic lymph node dissections and rate of omentectomy were also not significantly different: 18 nodes (open) versus 16 nodes (laparoscopic) (P = .96), and 100% (open) versus 91% (laparoscopic) (P = .08).

However, laparoscopic patients had more favorable median estimated blood loss (310 mL versus 175 mL, P = .048) and shorter hospital stays (4 days versus 1 day, P less than .042).

Laparoscopic patients also achieved more robust debulking to zero centimeter residual disease, with 90.5% of patients achieving it versus 65.7% of those in the open surgery cohort, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = .1).

In terms of postoperative adjuvant therapy – brachytherapy, external beam radiation, and chemotherapy – there were no significant differences in outcomes between the two cohorts. Recurrence rates were also similar, with nine recurrences in the open cohort and eight recurrences in the laparoscopic cohort. The estimated 36-month progression-free survival rates were “almost identical,” with 55.3% in the open cohort versus 53.3% in the laparoscopic (P = .727), according to Dr. Voice.

Postoperative complications were more common in the open surgery cohort (29.7%), compared with 13.6% in the laparoscopic cohort, but no statistically significant difference was found between them (P = .16).

Dr. Voice did not report information on financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Laparoscopic staging of patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma is a safe alternative to open staging and may offer some advantages, according to findings presented at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“Traditionally, serous papillary cancer has been treated different than the other endometrial cancers, the reason being is that it tends to behave more like ovarian cancer,” Jeanette Voice, MD, of Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island, N.Y., said at the meeting, which was held by the Society for Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. “Patients with serous papillary cancer tend to be older [so] these patients may benefit from a less invasive surgical approach.”

Dr. Voice and her coinvestigators conducted an 8-year retrospective study of laparoscopic and open-staged cases treated from March 2007 through May 2015. Initially, 59 patients with pathology-confirmed uterine papillary serous carcinoma were identified over that time period, and were divided into two cohorts: one receiving open surgery (37 patients) and one receiving laparoscopic surgery (22 patients).

Median age, body mass index, and prior abdominal surgery rate were not significantly different between the two cohorts.

In terms of intraoperative factors, median operative times for the open and laparoscopic cohorts were similar: 196 minutes versus 216 minutes, respectively (P = .561). Similarly, the number of pelvic lymph node dissections and rate of omentectomy were also not significantly different: 18 nodes (open) versus 16 nodes (laparoscopic) (P = .96), and 100% (open) versus 91% (laparoscopic) (P = .08).

However, laparoscopic patients had more favorable median estimated blood loss (310 mL versus 175 mL, P = .048) and shorter hospital stays (4 days versus 1 day, P less than .042).

Laparoscopic patients also achieved more robust debulking to zero centimeter residual disease, with 90.5% of patients achieving it versus 65.7% of those in the open surgery cohort, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = .1).

In terms of postoperative adjuvant therapy – brachytherapy, external beam radiation, and chemotherapy – there were no significant differences in outcomes between the two cohorts. Recurrence rates were also similar, with nine recurrences in the open cohort and eight recurrences in the laparoscopic cohort. The estimated 36-month progression-free survival rates were “almost identical,” with 55.3% in the open cohort versus 53.3% in the laparoscopic (P = .727), according to Dr. Voice.

Postoperative complications were more common in the open surgery cohort (29.7%), compared with 13.6% in the laparoscopic cohort, but no statistically significant difference was found between them (P = .16).

Dr. Voice did not report information on financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy offers some distinct advantages over the abdominal route for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse, including reduced intraoperative blood loss and shorter hospital stays, according to findings from a new research review.

“We wanted to compare the efficiency and safety of abdominal sacral colpopexy and laparoscopic sacral colpopexy for the treatment of pelvic organ collapse,” Juan Liu, MD, of Guangzhou Medical University in China said at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week, held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

Analyses directly comparing the safety and effectiveness of the two surgical routes are low in number, Dr. Liu added.

The researchers looked at published articles, written in English or Chinese, that were either retrospective analyses or randomized controlled trial studies examining laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC) or abdominal sacrocolpopexy (ASC), with follow-up times of at least 30 days.

Studies that investigated robot-assisted sacrocolpopexy were excluded, as well as studies for which there were no specific feature data or for which the full text of the study was inaccessible. Of 1,807 articles identified, 10 studies containing 3,816 cases were included for the analysis.

The studies were used to compare laparoscopic and abdominal sacrocolpopexy on the following criteria: operating time; blood loss; hospital length of stay; intraoperative complications such as urinary, bladder, and rectal injury; and postoperative complications such as infection, intestinal obstruction, mesh exposure, new urinary incontinence, and dyspareunia. Weighted mean difference was calculated to account for the different sample sizes across the studies.

The weighted mean difference in intraoperative blood loss in the laparoscopic cohort, compared with the abdominal cohort, was –100.68 mL (P less than .01). Hospital length of stay was also significantly reduced in the laparoscopic cohort, with a weighted mean difference of –1.77 days (P less than .01). The odds ratio for gastrointestinal complications was 0.30 for the laparoscopic route, compared with the abdominal route (P less than .01).

Additionally, pulmonary complications and blood transfusions were also found to be reduced with laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy, compared with abdominal sacrocolpopexy, with an odds ratio of 0.59 (P = .02) and 0.47 (P = .03), respectively.

But the review found little difference in other areas. The weighted mean difference for operating time in the laparoscopic cohort was 0.06 minutes, compared with the abdominal cohort, which was not statistically significant (P= .84). And there was not a statistically significant difference between the two surgical approaches in urinary complications (OR, 0.41; P = .11), cardiovascular complications (OR, 0.31; P = .49), or mesh exposure (OR, 1.60, P = .18).

No funding source for this study was disclosed. Dr. Liu reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy offers some distinct advantages over the abdominal route for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse, including reduced intraoperative blood loss and shorter hospital stays, according to findings from a new research review.

“We wanted to compare the efficiency and safety of abdominal sacral colpopexy and laparoscopic sacral colpopexy for the treatment of pelvic organ collapse,” Juan Liu, MD, of Guangzhou Medical University in China said at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week, held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

Analyses directly comparing the safety and effectiveness of the two surgical routes are low in number, Dr. Liu added.

The researchers looked at published articles, written in English or Chinese, that were either retrospective analyses or randomized controlled trial studies examining laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC) or abdominal sacrocolpopexy (ASC), with follow-up times of at least 30 days.

Studies that investigated robot-assisted sacrocolpopexy were excluded, as well as studies for which there were no specific feature data or for which the full text of the study was inaccessible. Of 1,807 articles identified, 10 studies containing 3,816 cases were included for the analysis.

The studies were used to compare laparoscopic and abdominal sacrocolpopexy on the following criteria: operating time; blood loss; hospital length of stay; intraoperative complications such as urinary, bladder, and rectal injury; and postoperative complications such as infection, intestinal obstruction, mesh exposure, new urinary incontinence, and dyspareunia. Weighted mean difference was calculated to account for the different sample sizes across the studies.

The weighted mean difference in intraoperative blood loss in the laparoscopic cohort, compared with the abdominal cohort, was –100.68 mL (P less than .01). Hospital length of stay was also significantly reduced in the laparoscopic cohort, with a weighted mean difference of –1.77 days (P less than .01). The odds ratio for gastrointestinal complications was 0.30 for the laparoscopic route, compared with the abdominal route (P less than .01).

Additionally, pulmonary complications and blood transfusions were also found to be reduced with laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy, compared with abdominal sacrocolpopexy, with an odds ratio of 0.59 (P = .02) and 0.47 (P = .03), respectively.

But the review found little difference in other areas. The weighted mean difference for operating time in the laparoscopic cohort was 0.06 minutes, compared with the abdominal cohort, which was not statistically significant (P= .84). And there was not a statistically significant difference between the two surgical approaches in urinary complications (OR, 0.41; P = .11), cardiovascular complications (OR, 0.31; P = .49), or mesh exposure (OR, 1.60, P = .18).

No funding source for this study was disclosed. Dr. Liu reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy offers some distinct advantages over the abdominal route for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse, including reduced intraoperative blood loss and shorter hospital stays, according to findings from a new research review.

“We wanted to compare the efficiency and safety of abdominal sacral colpopexy and laparoscopic sacral colpopexy for the treatment of pelvic organ collapse,” Juan Liu, MD, of Guangzhou Medical University in China said at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week, held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

Analyses directly comparing the safety and effectiveness of the two surgical routes are low in number, Dr. Liu added.

The researchers looked at published articles, written in English or Chinese, that were either retrospective analyses or randomized controlled trial studies examining laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC) or abdominal sacrocolpopexy (ASC), with follow-up times of at least 30 days.

Studies that investigated robot-assisted sacrocolpopexy were excluded, as well as studies for which there were no specific feature data or for which the full text of the study was inaccessible. Of 1,807 articles identified, 10 studies containing 3,816 cases were included for the analysis.

The studies were used to compare laparoscopic and abdominal sacrocolpopexy on the following criteria: operating time; blood loss; hospital length of stay; intraoperative complications such as urinary, bladder, and rectal injury; and postoperative complications such as infection, intestinal obstruction, mesh exposure, new urinary incontinence, and dyspareunia. Weighted mean difference was calculated to account for the different sample sizes across the studies.

The weighted mean difference in intraoperative blood loss in the laparoscopic cohort, compared with the abdominal cohort, was –100.68 mL (P less than .01). Hospital length of stay was also significantly reduced in the laparoscopic cohort, with a weighted mean difference of –1.77 days (P less than .01). The odds ratio for gastrointestinal complications was 0.30 for the laparoscopic route, compared with the abdominal route (P less than .01).

Additionally, pulmonary complications and blood transfusions were also found to be reduced with laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy, compared with abdominal sacrocolpopexy, with an odds ratio of 0.59 (P = .02) and 0.47 (P = .03), respectively.

But the review found little difference in other areas. The weighted mean difference for operating time in the laparoscopic cohort was 0.06 minutes, compared with the abdominal cohort, which was not statistically significant (P= .84). And there was not a statistically significant difference between the two surgical approaches in urinary complications (OR, 0.41; P = .11), cardiovascular complications (OR, 0.31; P = .49), or mesh exposure (OR, 1.60, P = .18).

No funding source for this study was disclosed. Dr. Liu reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Total laparoscopic hysterectomy had fewer complications and a shorter length of stay among morbidly obese women with uterine cancer, compared with an abdominal approach, according to findings presented at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“We wanted to look at current trends and see if we’re doing more the abdominal route or adopting more minimally invasive surgery, but also find out what obesity has to do with it,” Emad Mikhail, MD, of the University of South Florida in Tampa, said in an interview. “Morbidly obese patients are a really vulnerable group of patients; they have a lot of medical comorbidities, and when they need surgery they have an increased risk of having poor perioperative outcomes because of their BMI [body mass index].”

[email protected]

BOSTON – Total laparoscopic hysterectomy had fewer complications and a shorter length of stay among morbidly obese women with uterine cancer, compared with an abdominal approach, according to findings presented at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“We wanted to look at current trends and see if we’re doing more the abdominal route or adopting more minimally invasive surgery, but also find out what obesity has to do with it,” Emad Mikhail, MD, of the University of South Florida in Tampa, said in an interview. “Morbidly obese patients are a really vulnerable group of patients; they have a lot of medical comorbidities, and when they need surgery they have an increased risk of having poor perioperative outcomes because of their BMI [body mass index].”

[email protected]

BOSTON – Total laparoscopic hysterectomy had fewer complications and a shorter length of stay among morbidly obese women with uterine cancer, compared with an abdominal approach, according to findings presented at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“We wanted to look at current trends and see if we’re doing more the abdominal route or adopting more minimally invasive surgery, but also find out what obesity has to do with it,” Emad Mikhail, MD, of the University of South Florida in Tampa, said in an interview. “Morbidly obese patients are a really vulnerable group of patients; they have a lot of medical comorbidities, and when they need surgery they have an increased risk of having poor perioperative outcomes because of their BMI [body mass index].”

[email protected]

BOSTON – Robot-assisted radical hysterectomy is just as safe, or perhaps safer, than open surgery, according to a new study that examined perioperative and postoperative outcomes with long-term follow-ups for both types of procedures.

“Robotic surgery has been expanding for the last 20 years, but still the recurrence rate with cancer patients is missing data because very few studies are published; they don’t have long-term oncologic outcomes, and if [the technology] works properly we have to put it into the literature,” M. Bilal Sert, MD, of Oslo University, said at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

Dr. Sert and his coinvestigators identified 215 women who underwent either open or robot-assisted radical hysterectomy between November 2005 and December 2012. All of the procedures were elective and the robot-assisted operations were performed using the da Vinci robotic surgical platform. After excluding neoadjuvant cases, which totaled 19, the researchers looked at data on 196 patients (122 open radical hysterectomy cases and 74 robot-assisted radical hysterectomy cases).

On average, operating time for open radical hysterectomy was 171 minutes, versus 263 minutes for robot-assisted radical hysterectomy. However, the robotic surgery arm had lower mean estimated blood loss than the open surgery cohort: 80 milliliters versus 468 milliliters, respectively (P = .003). Follow-up time frames were shorter in the robotic surgery cohort by 6 months: 46 months reported for robotic surgery, compared with a 52-month average experienced by those in the open surgery cohort.

Both groups experienced recurrences, including 12 patients in the open surgery cohort (9.8%) and 9 patients in the robotic surgery cohort (12.1%) (P = .3), indicating a statistically insignificant difference. Similarly, rates of perioperative complications were 8% for open surgery and 11% for robotic surgery (P = .3), which was not significantly different.

However, rates of postoperative complications were 36% for open surgery and 12% for robotic surgery (P = .001), which was statistically significant.

“Based on our data, I can say that [robot-assisted radical hysterectomy] is safe, and in fact I prefer to use the robot,” Dr. Sert said at the meeting, which was held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. “Of course, robot-assisted surgery will not automatically make you a better surgeon, but on more complicated radical hysterectomy patients, it will help make the surgeon more precise.”

No funding source was disclosed for this study. Dr. Sert reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Robot-assisted radical hysterectomy is just as safe, or perhaps safer, than open surgery, according to a new study that examined perioperative and postoperative outcomes with long-term follow-ups for both types of procedures.

“Robotic surgery has been expanding for the last 20 years, but still the recurrence rate with cancer patients is missing data because very few studies are published; they don’t have long-term oncologic outcomes, and if [the technology] works properly we have to put it into the literature,” M. Bilal Sert, MD, of Oslo University, said at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

Dr. Sert and his coinvestigators identified 215 women who underwent either open or robot-assisted radical hysterectomy between November 2005 and December 2012. All of the procedures were elective and the robot-assisted operations were performed using the da Vinci robotic surgical platform. After excluding neoadjuvant cases, which totaled 19, the researchers looked at data on 196 patients (122 open radical hysterectomy cases and 74 robot-assisted radical hysterectomy cases).

On average, operating time for open radical hysterectomy was 171 minutes, versus 263 minutes for robot-assisted radical hysterectomy. However, the robotic surgery arm had lower mean estimated blood loss than the open surgery cohort: 80 milliliters versus 468 milliliters, respectively (P = .003). Follow-up time frames were shorter in the robotic surgery cohort by 6 months: 46 months reported for robotic surgery, compared with a 52-month average experienced by those in the open surgery cohort.

Both groups experienced recurrences, including 12 patients in the open surgery cohort (9.8%) and 9 patients in the robotic surgery cohort (12.1%) (P = .3), indicating a statistically insignificant difference. Similarly, rates of perioperative complications were 8% for open surgery and 11% for robotic surgery (P = .3), which was not significantly different.

However, rates of postoperative complications were 36% for open surgery and 12% for robotic surgery (P = .001), which was statistically significant.

“Based on our data, I can say that [robot-assisted radical hysterectomy] is safe, and in fact I prefer to use the robot,” Dr. Sert said at the meeting, which was held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. “Of course, robot-assisted surgery will not automatically make you a better surgeon, but on more complicated radical hysterectomy patients, it will help make the surgeon more precise.”

No funding source was disclosed for this study. Dr. Sert reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Robot-assisted radical hysterectomy is just as safe, or perhaps safer, than open surgery, according to a new study that examined perioperative and postoperative outcomes with long-term follow-ups for both types of procedures.

“Robotic surgery has been expanding for the last 20 years, but still the recurrence rate with cancer patients is missing data because very few studies are published; they don’t have long-term oncologic outcomes, and if [the technology] works properly we have to put it into the literature,” M. Bilal Sert, MD, of Oslo University, said at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

Dr. Sert and his coinvestigators identified 215 women who underwent either open or robot-assisted radical hysterectomy between November 2005 and December 2012. All of the procedures were elective and the robot-assisted operations were performed using the da Vinci robotic surgical platform. After excluding neoadjuvant cases, which totaled 19, the researchers looked at data on 196 patients (122 open radical hysterectomy cases and 74 robot-assisted radical hysterectomy cases).

On average, operating time for open radical hysterectomy was 171 minutes, versus 263 minutes for robot-assisted radical hysterectomy. However, the robotic surgery arm had lower mean estimated blood loss than the open surgery cohort: 80 milliliters versus 468 milliliters, respectively (P = .003). Follow-up time frames were shorter in the robotic surgery cohort by 6 months: 46 months reported for robotic surgery, compared with a 52-month average experienced by those in the open surgery cohort.

Both groups experienced recurrences, including 12 patients in the open surgery cohort (9.8%) and 9 patients in the robotic surgery cohort (12.1%) (P = .3), indicating a statistically insignificant difference. Similarly, rates of perioperative complications were 8% for open surgery and 11% for robotic surgery (P = .3), which was not significantly different.

However, rates of postoperative complications were 36% for open surgery and 12% for robotic surgery (P = .001), which was statistically significant.

“Based on our data, I can say that [robot-assisted radical hysterectomy] is safe, and in fact I prefer to use the robot,” Dr. Sert said at the meeting, which was held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. “Of course, robot-assisted surgery will not automatically make you a better surgeon, but on more complicated radical hysterectomy patients, it will help make the surgeon more precise.”

No funding source was disclosed for this study. Dr. Sert reported having no relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Smartphones coupled with the rapidly growing number of medical applications are the latest disruptive technologies reshaping the way physicians conduct business and interact with patients, according to Paul Alan Wetter, MD, founder and chairman of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

“The message really is to the physicians out there: We need to be prepared and understand as much about this as we can,” said Dr. Wetter, clinical professor emeritus at the University of Miami. “We don’t want to be, 5 years from now ... wondering what’s going, what is this change?”

In a video interview, Dr. Wetter explained how mobile devices and apps could potentially improve technology-based tools that doctors already use, such as electronic health records, by allowing patients to carry accurate and up-to-date medical information with them.

Dr. Wetter spoke at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week, held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. He did not report any relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Smartphones coupled with the rapidly growing number of medical applications are the latest disruptive technologies reshaping the way physicians conduct business and interact with patients, according to Paul Alan Wetter, MD, founder and chairman of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

“The message really is to the physicians out there: We need to be prepared and understand as much about this as we can,” said Dr. Wetter, clinical professor emeritus at the University of Miami. “We don’t want to be, 5 years from now ... wondering what’s going, what is this change?”

In a video interview, Dr. Wetter explained how mobile devices and apps could potentially improve technology-based tools that doctors already use, such as electronic health records, by allowing patients to carry accurate and up-to-date medical information with them.

Dr. Wetter spoke at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week, held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. He did not report any relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Smartphones coupled with the rapidly growing number of medical applications are the latest disruptive technologies reshaping the way physicians conduct business and interact with patients, according to Paul Alan Wetter, MD, founder and chairman of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

“The message really is to the physicians out there: We need to be prepared and understand as much about this as we can,” said Dr. Wetter, clinical professor emeritus at the University of Miami. “We don’t want to be, 5 years from now ... wondering what’s going, what is this change?”

In a video interview, Dr. Wetter explained how mobile devices and apps could potentially improve technology-based tools that doctors already use, such as electronic health records, by allowing patients to carry accurate and up-to-date medical information with them.

Dr. Wetter spoke at the annual Minimally Invasive Surgery Week, held by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. He did not report any relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Patients who receive robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS), an increasingly widespread facet of surgical medicine, tend to be higher income white males, according to an extensive new study presented at Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“We wanted to look at how the technology is rolling out ... and what some of those characteristics are that are occurring, not only with the types of patients that are picking up these surgeries but also who the surgeons are that are performing these surgeries,” the study’s lead investigator, Michael A. Palese, MD, of Mount Sinai Health System, New York, explained during a video interview.

A total of 63,725 RALS cases were included, all of which occurred during 2009-2015. In addition to affluent white males being the predominant recipients of this type of surgery, younger white male surgeons tended to be the ones more likely to perform RALS. Across specialties, RALS use has increased substantially over the study period, with the largest increases seen among cardiothoracic surgeons (from 197 cases, 3.1% of all cases per year, to 1,159, 8.7% of all cases). Among general surgeons, RALS use increased from 98 cases (3.2%) to 2,559 cases (19.1%), and for orthopedic surgeons, 55 (0.8%) to 985 (7.4%).

Dr. Palese discussed the genesis of the study, the importance of the study’s findings, and where he foresees RALS heading in the near future. He did not report any relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Patients who receive robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS), an increasingly widespread facet of surgical medicine, tend to be higher income white males, according to an extensive new study presented at Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“We wanted to look at how the technology is rolling out ... and what some of those characteristics are that are occurring, not only with the types of patients that are picking up these surgeries but also who the surgeons are that are performing these surgeries,” the study’s lead investigator, Michael A. Palese, MD, of Mount Sinai Health System, New York, explained during a video interview.

A total of 63,725 RALS cases were included, all of which occurred during 2009-2015. In addition to affluent white males being the predominant recipients of this type of surgery, younger white male surgeons tended to be the ones more likely to perform RALS. Across specialties, RALS use has increased substantially over the study period, with the largest increases seen among cardiothoracic surgeons (from 197 cases, 3.1% of all cases per year, to 1,159, 8.7% of all cases). Among general surgeons, RALS use increased from 98 cases (3.2%) to 2,559 cases (19.1%), and for orthopedic surgeons, 55 (0.8%) to 985 (7.4%).

Dr. Palese discussed the genesis of the study, the importance of the study’s findings, and where he foresees RALS heading in the near future. He did not report any relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]

BOSTON – Patients who receive robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS), an increasingly widespread facet of surgical medicine, tend to be higher income white males, according to an extensive new study presented at Minimally Invasive Surgery Week.

“We wanted to look at how the technology is rolling out ... and what some of those characteristics are that are occurring, not only with the types of patients that are picking up these surgeries but also who the surgeons are that are performing these surgeries,” the study’s lead investigator, Michael A. Palese, MD, of Mount Sinai Health System, New York, explained during a video interview.

A total of 63,725 RALS cases were included, all of which occurred during 2009-2015. In addition to affluent white males being the predominant recipients of this type of surgery, younger white male surgeons tended to be the ones more likely to perform RALS. Across specialties, RALS use has increased substantially over the study period, with the largest increases seen among cardiothoracic surgeons (from 197 cases, 3.1% of all cases per year, to 1,159, 8.7% of all cases). Among general surgeons, RALS use increased from 98 cases (3.2%) to 2,559 cases (19.1%), and for orthopedic surgeons, 55 (0.8%) to 985 (7.4%).

Dr. Palese discussed the genesis of the study, the importance of the study’s findings, and where he foresees RALS heading in the near future. He did not report any relevant financial disclosures.

[email protected]