A comparison of outcomes between laparoscopic and robotic appendectomy among ACS-NSQIP hospitals

Objective: Robotic general surgery remains controversial, with some employing the technology for common laparoscopic procedures such as appendectomies. Very few studies have compared robotic appendectomy (RA) to existing techniques, partly due to the relative scarcity of data. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes for RA versus laparoscopic appendectomy (LA). Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated procedural specific databases of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) for appendectomy between January 2016 and December 2019 and included all available cases at the time of analysis (June 2021). Demographic and surgical outcomes including composite 30-day complications, specific complications, and length of operation were analyzed using a univariate analysis. Results: In total, there were 52,559 appendectomies in the NSQIP database between 2016 and 2019. Analysis was restricted to those who underwent minimally invasive approaches. In total, 49,850 patients were included in the analysis. Of those, 49,800 patients underwent LA, and 50 patients underwent RA. Participants who underwent RA were older (35.8 ± 4.5 y vs. 23.0 ± 0.2 y, p 0.90) between RA and LA cases. RA had a longer median operation time (71.0 min vs. 46.0 min, p