Robotic Surgery

Robots have revolutionized industrial production, from automobiles to pharmaceutical manufacturing, and offer an exciting, novel approach to surgical diseases. Robots employed in surgical use initially raised some concern related to malfunction and independent action. However, the surgeon’s decision-making capability is still crucial for each surgical procedure because of the anatomic or physiologic variables of each clinical situation. Currently, surgical robots consist of instruments that are remotely manipulated by a surgeon using an electromechanical interface and represent extensions of the surgeon’s mind and hands. This review provides an overview of robotic surgery, and covers the application of robotic surgery in general surgery. Figures show the AESOP 3000 robotic arm, the da Vinci robotic surgical system, the ZEUS Surgical System, the ZEUS robotic arms,  the da Vinci Si, the da Vinci wristed endoscopic stapler, the da Vinci Xi patient side cart and robotic arms, the da Vinci Single-Site robotic instruments, and the da Vinci Single-Site port with instruments positioned and robotic arms docked. The video shows a robotic Rives-Stoppa retromuscular incisional hernia repair with bilateral transversus abdominis release.   This review contains 9 highly rendered figures, 1 video, and 85 references Key words: Robotic, surgery, hernia, inguinal, ventral, incisional, fundoplication, paraesophageal hernia, myotomy, gastrectomy, cholecystectomy, pancreatectomy, splenectomy, bariatric, adrenalectomy, colon, colectomy, colorectal