Robotic surgery for pediatric tumors

Abstract

Robotic surgery is an ever-moving target of advancing technology. The need for prospective data may be a hallmark for good science, but collecting that data is difficult if not impossible in such a rapidly progressing technology. At present, published pediatric robotic outcomes data are very scarce, especially when it is filtered to select oncology. In order to understand what robotic surgery is and how we can apply it to children with cancer, the benefits as well as the limitations of robotic surgery need to be understood. Next, we will discuss all of the known published and even unpublished data with a focus on seeing what procedures may work and which need more scrutiny. Finally, we will discuss the latest additions to this technology and where the future may lead us in the surgical treatment of cancer in children.