J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 123(6): 553-560, 2022

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Feature topic

CURRENT STATUS AND PROSPECTS OF ROBOT-ASSISTED CARDIAC SURGERY

Unlike other fields, the introduction of endoscopic surgery has been delayed in cardiac surgery, but the advent of surgical robots has made it possible. Robotic cardiac surgery can be divided into coronary artery bypass surgery and intracardiac surgery. In bypass surgery, the internal thoracic artery can be harvested using only a port, enabling bypass surgery via a small thoracotomy or totally endoscopic bypass surgery. However, mitral valve plasty is most effective in robotic surgery, and it is far superior to median sternotomy and minimally invasive cardiac surgery, allowing accurate and complex valve plasty in a shorter time. We perform totally endoscopic cardiac surgery using only four ports, which we define as keyhole cardiac surgery. In 2018, robotic surgery was covered by insurance as thoracoscopic valve plasty, and the number of cases is increasing every year, making the role of the robot-assisted cardiac surgery council important. The expansion of insurance coverage and the emergence of new robots are expected in the future, especially in the field of cardiac surgery.

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