Systematic Review
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jun 15, 2014; 6(6): 184-193
Published online Jun 15, 2014. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v6.i6.184
Robotic surgery for rectal cancer: A systematic review of current practice
Tony Wing Chung Mak, Janet Fung Yee Lee, Kaori Futaba, Sophie Sok Fei Hon, Dennis Kwok Yu Ngo, Simon Siu Man Ng
Tony Wing Chung Mak, Janet Fung Yee Lee, Sophie Sok Fei Hon, Dennis Kwok Yu Ngo, Simon Siu Man Ng, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong, China
Kaori Futaba, Department of Colorectal Surgery, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, Birmingham, B15 2TH, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Mak TWC, Lee JFY, Futaba K, Hon SSF, Ngo DKY, Ng SSM contributed to conceptualisation of the study, literature searches, identification of relevant articles, analysing the collected data and writing of the paper; all authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Simon Siu Man Ng, MD, FRCS, Professor of Colorectal Surgery, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Room 64045, 4/F, Lui Che Woo Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China. simonng@surgery.cuhk.edu.hk
Telephone: +85-2-26321495 Fax: +85-2-26377974
Received: December 25, 2013
Revised: February 23, 2014
Accepted: April 17, 2014
Published online: June 15, 2014
Processing time: 176 Days and 21.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: This systematic review summarizes current evidence on the role of robotic surgery for the treatment of rectal cancer. It is a timely article as minimal invasive surgery has proven to benefit patients with colonic cancers but conventional laparoscopic surgery for the treatment for rectal cancer remains controversial due to its steep learning curve. Robotic-assisted surgery has technological advances, which may have the potential to overcome some of the limitations of conventional laparoscopic surgery.