Literature Review: A Roundup of Important Recent Studies

Positive surgical margins were detected in seven of the 179 patients. Estimated blood loss for all patients was 82.8 ± 130 mL, with no transfusions required. The average hospital stay was 4.2 ± 2.7 days. Patients who underwent TORS without previous radiation therapy had a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube dependency rate of 5.0 percent.

There were no intra-operative or peri-operative deaths; 29 patients experienced serious adverse events requiring hospitalization, although no serious adverse events were directly related to the robotic device. In total, there was a 98.9 percent success rate based on this study’s criteria; surgical margin rates were comparable with those resulting from other transoral approaches.

Bottom line: Per this study’s criteria, TORS is a feasible, effective, safe procedure for resection of certain types of benign and malignant head and neck tumors.

Citation: Weinstein GS, O’Malley BW II, Magnuson JS, et al. Transoral robotic surgery: a multicenter study to assess feasibility, safety, and surgical margins. Laryngoscope. 2012;122(8):1701-1707.

—Reviewed by Amy E. Hamaker