Robot-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy: Comparison with abdominal myomectomy

Objective. - To compare morbidity of robot-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy versus those performed by laparotomy. Patients and methods. - It reports a monocentric retrospective case matched analysis enrolling 22 patients (six laparotomic and 16 robot-assisted laparoscopic myomectomies), needing a surgical treatment for at least one myoma oversizing 6 cm. Results. - Both patient groups were comparable regarding their age, their weight and myoma's size. There were more complications in the laparotomy group in comparison with the robotic group (66.7%, versus 0%; P=0.002). Average intraoperative blood tosses were respectively 397 +/- 377 mL versus 387 +/- 349 mL (P=0.71) and length of stay 7.2 +/- 0.8 days versus 3.9 +/- 2.8 days (P < 0.001). None of the robot-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy needed any conversion to laparotomy. Conclusion. - Robot-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy seems to be feasible for heavy fibroids, with a lower morbidity in comparison with laparotomy. These results must be confirmed by several wider prospective studies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.