A prospective comparison of postoperative pain and quality of life in robotic assisted vs conventional laparoscopic gynecologic surgery
Presented as an abstract at the 40th AAGL Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecology, Hollywood, FL, Nov. 6-10, 2011, and in poster format at the 41st annual meeting on Women’s Cancer of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, San Francisco, CA, March 14-17, 2010.
Objective
We sought to compare robotic vs laparoscopic surgery in regards to patient reported postoperative pain and quality of life.
Study Design
This was a prospective study of patients who presented for treatment of a new gynecologic disease requiring minimally invasive surgical intervention. All subjects were asked to take the validated Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form at 3 time points to assess pain and its effect on quality of life. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson x2 and Student’s t test.
Results
One hundred eleven were included in the analysis of which 56 patients underwent robotic assisted surgery and 55 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. There was no difference in postoperative pain between conventional laparoscopy and robotic assisted surgery for gynecologic procedures. There was a statistically significant difference found at the delayed postoperative period when evaluating interference of sleep, favoring laparoscopy (ROB 2.0 vs LSC 1.0; P = .03). There were no differences found between the robotic and laparoscopic groups of patients receiving narcotics (56 vs 53, P = .24, respectively), route of administration of narcotics (47 vs 45, P >.99, respectively), or administration of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medications (27 vs 21, P = .33, respectively).
Conclusion
Our results demonstrate no difference in postoperative pain between conventional laparoscopy and robotic assisted surgery for gynecologic procedures. Furthermore, pain did not appear to interfere consistently with any daily activity of living. Interference of sleep needs to be further evaluated after controlling for bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.
El Camino Women’s Medical Group offers the latest Minimally Invasive Solutions for gynecologic problems. Drs. Amy Teng and Erika Balassiano, both members of AAGL (American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopy) are highly trained and experienced in the field of Minimally Invasive Gynecgologic Surgery. Dr. Erika Balassiano is also a graduate of the Minimally Invasive Gyneologic Surgery Fellowship at Stanford University, under the supervision of world-renowned Dr. Camran Nezhat.
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