Surgical Skills Training For Robotic Assisted Surgery

The enormous impact of technology in medicine has a remarkable example in the introduction of robotic systems in minimally invasive surgery approximately a decade ago. With relatively small modifications to the commercial systems originally introduced, the field of robotic surgery is now established and growing. Several thousand procedures have been practiced successfully in areas like general surgery, thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, urology, gynaecology, and others. Research in robotic surgery is growing exponentially, and its future is promising. The systems employed by the specialties mentioned above are known as telemanipulator systems due to their technical configuration and interaction with the surgeon. Although there are other robotic systems employed in, for example, orthopaedic and urologic surgery, this chapter will focus on the use of telemanipulator systems for laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery, and that is what will be meant when using the expression robotic surgery Possible limitations to massive use of surgical telemanipulator systems could be the cost, technical capabilities of hospitals around the world and surgical expertise and training. The aim of this chapter is to explore this last issue, which, in the end, will determine if these systems are widely accepted by the surgical community and its use is extended beyond hospitals and academic centres in the developed world. It will set up to find if surgeons require new abilities to practice surgical procedures using telemanipulator systems; if there is an advantage for already trained laparoscopic surgeons or if surgical trainees can easily learn the use of this equipment. It will also discuss if this technology has an impact on the learning curve of advanced laparoscopic procedures, and how scientists and surgeons are working to improve its performance.