Objective assessment of robotic surgical technical skill: A systemic review

AbstractPurpose: Robotic surgeries, especially in urology, have grown exponentially over the past decade. Various skill assessment tools have been developed. We review the present status, current challenges, and future needs of robotic evaluations, with a focus on urologic applications.Materials and Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), two paired investigators screened PubMed®, Scopus® and Web of Science® databases for all full text, English language articles published between 2006 and 2018 using the query (evaluation OR assessment) AND (robot-assisted surgery OR robotic surgery) AND (surgical performance OR surgical skill) AND training. Research design, validity, and reliability of each study were ascertained and analyzed.Results: A total of 259 studies were identified, and 107 studies were included in the final analysis. We grouped the studies into two categories: manual and automated assessment. Manual evaluation included global skill assessme...