Objectives: The primary objective was to examine the safety and feasibility of robotic-assisted laparoscopy in a cohort of women treated surgically for stage III and IV endometriosis. The secondary objective was to explore whether the stage of endometriosis affected surgical outcome.
Methods: In this cohort study, 43 women with severe endometriosis were treated with robot-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy with unilateral or bilateral salpingooophorectomy for stage III (n = 19) or stage IV (n = 24) disease.
Results: Histopathologic evaluation confirmed endometriosis in all patients, and fibroids were also shown in 12 patients. The median actual operative time was 145 min (range, 67-325 min), and the median blood loss was 100 mL (range, 20 - 400 mL). All but one of the procedures were completed successfully robotically. The length of hospital stay was 1 d for 95% of patients (41 of 43), and 2 patients had prolonged stays of 4 d and 5 d, respectively. One patient was readmitted for a vaginal cuff abscess; this represented the only complication identified in this series.
Conclusions: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery appears to be a reasonably safe and feasible method for the definitive surgical management of women with severe endometriosis.