M. Malekpour1, M. Fluck1, M. Alaparthi1, M. Shabahang1 1Geisinger Medical Center,Department Of General Surgery,Danville, PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Introduction:
Robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) is a newly-introduced technology with some General Surgery Residency programs recently integrating it into their curriculum. The cost-effectiveness of RAS training in general surgery residency is debated.
Methods:
All outpatient cholecystectomy cases from 2013 to 2017 were included in this study. Patients were divided into laparoscopic and robotic-assisted groups. We focused on comparison of the cost and length-of-stay (LOS) for cases based on the presence of residents.
Results:
During the 5-year study-period, 1774 cases were included. Residents were scrubbed in 70% of laparoscopic cases (1125 cases from a total of 1605 laparoscopic cholecystectomies) and 45% of robotic-assisted cases (75 cases from a total of 165 robotic-assisted cholecystectomies). Presence of residents were associated with significantly reduced costs in both laparoscopic and robotic-assisted cases (both p<0.0001). Although the presence of residents was associated with significantly longer LOSs in laparoscopic cases (12.6 vs 9.8 hours, p=0.0003), there was no association between the presence of residence and LOS in robotic-assisted cases (11.8 vs 9.6 hours, p=0.63).
Conclusion:
Presence of residence in outpatient robotic-assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomies was associated with less cost. General Surgery residency programs should consider integration of RAS in their curriculums.