SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Surgical Oncology
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Surgical Techniques and ML/DL-based Prognostic Biomarkers for Surgical and Adjuvant Therapies of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic CancersView all 12 articles
Comparison of the perioperative outcomes of robotic versus open distal pancreatectomy: A meta-analysis of propensity-score-matched studies
Provisionally accepted
- Suining Central Hospital, Suining, China
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Objective: Robotic distal pancreatectomy (RDP) is considered to offer certain advantages over traditional open distal pancreatectomy (ODP); however, high-quality evidence remains limited. This meta-analysis aimed to compare perioperative outcomes between RDP and ODP using data from propensity-score–matched studies. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science databases for studies comparing RDP and ODP. Odds ratios (ORs) and mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results: Seven studies with 1,526 patients were included (RDP group: 722 patients; ODP group: 804 patients). Compared with ODP, RDP was associated with a shorter hospital stay (MD -3.11 days; 95% CI, -4.45, -1.77), reduced blood loss (MD -163.38 mL; 95% CI, -212.08, -114.68), higher spleen preservation rates (OR 2.36, 95% CI, 1.06, 5.24) and lower surgical site infection (SSI) rates (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.29,0.76). No significant differences were found in 90-day mortality, overall morbidity, major complications, operative time, reoperation rates, postoperative pancreatic fistula, number of harvested lymph nodes, and R0 resection rates. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that RDP may have potential advantages over ODP, including reduced blood loss, shorter hospitalization, higher spleen preservation, and lower SSI rates. These potential benefits warrant confirmation in future randomized controlled trials.
Keywords: robotic distal pancreatectomy, Open distal pancreatectomy, Mortality, Morbidity, Meta-analysis
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Liu and Wu. 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: Yakun Wu, yakunwu1985@163.com
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