Monopolar Electrosurgical Scissors Versus Harmonic Scalpel in Robotic Anterior Resection of Rectal Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract Background: Robot-assisted surgical techniques have been introduced in recent years as an alternative minimally invasive approach for colorectal surgery. In practice, we found that the monopolar electrosurgical scissors had its unique advantages in preservation of the pelvic autonomic nerves. We performed a retrospective review of short-term results between using monopolar electrosurgical scissors and harmonic scalpel in robotic anterior resection (using the da Vinci® Surgical System) in rectal cancer patients. Method: Forty-six patients who underwent robotic anterior resection of rectal cancer from June 2016 to January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed and compared. Twenty-two cases underwent resection using monopolar electrosurgical scissors and 24 cases underwent resection using the harmonic scalpel. Patient characteristics, perioperative clinical results, complications, and pathological results were compared between two groups. Results: There were not significantly different patient characte...