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The following is a summary of “Robotic salvage radical hysterectomy for locally recurrent cervical cancer: A comparison with open surgery in a single-surgeon series,” published in the December 2024 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology by Mabuchi et al.       

Women with locally recurrent cervical cancer after definitive radiotherapy may undergo salvage radical hysterectomy (RH), either robot-assisted or conventional open surgery.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare outcomes of robotic assisted vs. open salvage RH in women with locally recurrent cervical cancer.  

They reviewed data from patients who underwent robotic (robotic group) or open (open group) salvage RH. Surgical and oncological outcomes were compared, including clinicopathological characteristics, blood loss, operative time, complications, and survival.  

The results showed that the robotic group had a significantly lower median estimated blood loss (0 mL [robotic group] vs. 700 mL [open group]; P<0.01). The operative time was slightly longer in the robotic group but not statistically significant. The incidence of complications and disease recurrence rates were similar between groups (40% [robotic group] vs. 44.4% [open group]). The follow-up duration was 29.0 months for the open group and 17.1 months for the robotic group. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed no significant difference between the groups in progression-free survival and OS.  

They concluded that robot-assisted salvage RH provided comparable perioperative and oncological outcomes to the open procedure for women with locally recurrent cervical cancer.  

Source: obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jog.16142