In various disciplines, robotic-assisted surgery is a well-proven routine procedure, but have never been established in vascular surgery so far. This review summarizes the results to date of robotic-assisted abdominal aortic surgery (RAAS) in the treatment of aorto-iliac occlusive disease (AIOD) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Web-based literature search of robotic-assisted surgical procedures on the abdominal aorta and iliac arteries between 1990 and 2020 including the Cochrane Library, OVID Medline, Embase, and PubMed medical databases. All studies conducting Robotic-assisted surgery were included in the quantitative analysis regarding operative and cross-clamping times, conversion rates, mortality and morbidity within the first 30 days, and in-hospital stay. Case reports and case studies (< 5 patients) were not included. Twenty-four studies were deemed thematically eligible for inclusion; after exclusion of duplicate publications, nine met the inclusion criteria for further analysis. A total of 850 patients who had either abdominal aortic aneurysm or aorto-iliac occlusive disease underwent RAAS. One study of abdominal aortic aneurysm, three of aorto-iliac occlusive disease, and five studies of both disease entities were analyzed quantitatively. For AAA, conversion rates ranged from 13.1 to 20% and perioperative mortality ranged from 0 to 1.6% with in-hospital stay of 7 days. For aorto-iliac occlusive disease, conversion rates ranged from 0 to 20%, and perioperative mortality ranged from 0 to 3.6% with in-hospital stay of 5–8 days. RAAS has been shown to be technically feasible with acceptable short-term outcomes and questionable benefits in terms of in-hospital stay and complication rates. RAAS is currently considered only an outsider procedure. Randomized-controlled trials are indispensable for regular use in vascular surgery as well as a clear approval situation for the vascular sector.

Objective The MMI Symani® is a recently approved robotic microsurgical system for surgical procedures in adults. The system enables the surgeon to create microanastomoses. Clinical applications so far include lymphatic vessels surgery and the creation of special flap plastics. The use of the system in coronary arteries has not yet been assessed. The aim of this preclinical study was to evaluate the applicability of the Symani® surgical system in the creation of coronary anastomoses a cadaveric porcine model.Design and Methods A total of 12 anastomoses were performed by three senior cardiovascular surgeons on the left main coronary artery of three porcine hearts. Artificial bypasses (diameter 1 mm) were performed to the left main trunk. The anastomoses were performed with the Symani® surgical system. Evaluation included procedure times and anastomosis leakage.Results All anastomoses could be successfully performed. The procedure time decreased due to the learning curve between the first anastomosis 47:28 ± 5:30 min and the last anastomosis 22:37 ± 3:25 min. The final evaluation of the anastomoses showed excellent results with low leakage. The quality of the anastomosis also improved in relation to the increasing learning curve.Conclusion The Symani® surgical system could be used to create coronary anastomoses in an acceptable time frame and without technical failures. Hence, the system appears feasible for conventional coronary surgery. Further studies in animal models are mandatory prior to clinical application.