Robotic assistance for video-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy: Technique and initial results

ObjectivesThere is little experience with telerobotic assistance for video-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy. We developed a technique for robotic assistance during video-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy and report our initial results.MethodsVideo-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy with the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, Calif) was attempted in 34 patients (median age, 69.0 years; age range, 12-85 years)....