Excis？o total do mesorreto por técnica robótica: resultados cirúrgicos e oncológicos iniciais

objectives: to evaluate the surgical and oncological outcomes of patients with extraperitoneal rectal cancer who underwent robotic total mesorectal excision (tem). methods: from january 2007 to march 2010 a total of 60 patients were consecutively operated on through robotic technique. data regarding surgical data and oncological outcomes were prospectively registered in a database. results: 35 men and 25 women underwent surgery. the mean age was 60.3 ± 11.7 years. sphincter preserving surgery was possible in 52 patients. the mean number lymph node harvested was 18.7 ± 8.8 lymph nodes. the mean distal surgical margin was 2.9 ± 1.7 cm, while the radial margin was negative in all patients. the duration of postoperative follow-up was 14.3 months. only one local recurrence was observed. the overall and the cancer-specific survival were respectively 97.6% and 98.3%. conclusions: robotic tem is feasible and safe. it is equal or superior to open and laparoscopic techniques in terms of morbidity and mortality rates, sphincter preservation rates and early oncological outcomes