Clinical and Cost Outcomes of Robot-Assisted Inguinal Hernia Repair: A Systematic Review

Over 20 million inguinal hernia repairs are performed worldwide annually.1 Robot-assisted repair has seen significant growth in the U.S. due to perceived benefits of its magnified three-dimensional visualization and superior range of motion in carrying out fine dissection,2 however clinical and cost benefits have yet to be established. In this study, we perform a systematic review of robot-assisted inguinal hernia repair compared with the laparoscopic and open approaches to evaluate intraoperative and short-term outcomes, including pain and hernia recurrence, as well as cost.