Impact of Previous Abdominal Surgery on the Outcomes of Robotic Resection for Colorectal Cancer: An Analysis of Conversions, Short-Term Outcomes and Quality of Oncologic Resections

Abstract

Background This study investigated the impact of previous abdominal surgery (PAS) on short-term outcomes in robotic resection for colorectal cancer.Methods 517 patients with colon or rectal cancer undergoing robotic resection between 2014 and 2024 were categorised into the no-PAS (n = 359) and PAS (n = 158) groups with further subdivision into minor and major PAS. Thirty-day outcomes and pathologic findings were compared.Results No significant differences existed between the PAS and no-PAS groups regarding preoperative characteristics. The rates of conversions (0.6% vs. 1.1%), intraoperative complications (2.5% vs. 2.2%), mean number of nodal harvest (32.5 +/- 17.4 vs. 32.5 +/- 17.1), and surgical margin positivity (2.5% vs. 0.6%) were similar. The minor PAS subgroup demonstrated a higher rate of surgical margin positivity (3.2% vs. 0%, p = 0.04).Conclusions The results of this study suggest that robotic colorectal cancer surgery can be performed with similar short-term outcomes and comparable oncologic resection quality in patients with PAS.