ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Experimental Therapeutics
A comparison between robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery and conventional craniotomy for intracerebral hemorrhage: efficiency, complications and outcomes
Provisionally accepted
- 1China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
- 2The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a severe neurological condition with high morbidity and mortality rates. Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (RA-MIS) has emerged as a novel technique that may offer advantages over traditional craniotomy. This study aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy of RA-MIS compared to conventional craniotomy in patients with ICH. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving 44 patients with ICH admitted to two medical centers between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2024. Patients were divided into two groups: 24 underwent RA-MIS, and 20 underwent traditional craniotomy. Baseline characteristics, functional outcomes (modified Rankin Scale [mRS]), neurological deficits (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS]), postoperative complications, hospitalization costs, duration of respiratory support, and mortality rates were analyzed. Results: The RA-MIS group demonstrated significantly better functional outcomes at 90 days postoperative, with a mean mRS score of 2.58 ± 1.72 compared to 3.85 ± 1.63 in the craniotomy group (P = 0.017). NIHSS scores at 90 days were also significantly lower in the RA-MIS group (3.64 ± 3.32 vs. 7.71 ± 5.35; P = 0.006), indicating improved neurological recovery. RA-MIS patients experienced fewer postoperative complications, including lower incidences of pneumonia (16.7% vs. 70.0%; P < 0.001) and intracranial infections (0.0% vs. 20.0%; P = 0.036). The total hospitalization costs were significantly lower for the RA-MIS group (¥78,677 ± 38,904 vs. ¥136,399 ± 85,916; P = 0.006), and the duration of respiratory support was shorter (64.00 ± 161.79 hours vs. 238.25 ± 197.04 hours; P = 0.002). The mortality rate was significantly lower in the RA-MIS group (8.3% vs. 30.0%; P = 0.020). Conclusions: RA-MIS is associated with improved functional and neurological outcomes, fewer postoperative complications, reduced hospitalization costs, and lower mortality rates compared to traditional craniotomy in patients with ICH. These findings suggest that RA-MIS may be a more effective and economical surgical option for hematoma evacuation in ICH patients.
Keywords: intracerebral hemorrhage, robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, Craniotomy, Hematoma evacuation, prognosis
Received: 21 Aug 2025; Accepted: 05 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Gao, Wang, Li, Liu, Zhang, Yang, Yu and Zhen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xueke Zhen
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.