Pancreaticoduodenectomy: traditional open versus robotic approach

A. Parisi

Pancreatic surgery presents such difficulties in the anatomical approach so as to preclude, to date, a reproducible and shared minimally invasive approach due to the necessity of having a wide exposure of the operative field. The implementation of robotic systems applied to abdominal surgery has led surgeons inclined towards minimally invasive surgery to test a new approach in those procedures severely limited in laparoscopy, mainly due to two-dimensional view and poor dexterity of the instruments. We believe that the development of robotic technology has expanded the indications for a minimally invasive approach in complex interventions such as pancreaticoduodenectomy, which appears, to date, more feasible and safe in selected patients and to experienced surgeons within dedicated teams. In this video we decided to add the two approaches that are performed at our Institution, comparing the open surgery versus the robotic technique, especially highlighting the characteristics of the robotic system in the reconstruction phase.