Current Expectations and Opinions on Single-port Robotic Surgery: A Survey Among European Experts by the SPARC Collaborative Group

Single -port (SP) robotic surgery is a relatively new technology that is expected to become available on the European market within a year. We investigated the current expectations of robotic surgery experts and opinion leaders practicing in Europe. A 17 -item online questionnaire was sent to 120 participants identified as "experts"on the basis of their general contributions to the field of robotic surgery. Overall, 90 responses were registered, with a response rate of 75%. Italy (30%), France (15%), and the UK (12%) provided the most participants, who worked mainly in academic-either public (60%) or private (20%)-hospitals. Most respondents (79%) had no previous experience with "single site"surgery, and attendance at scientific meetings (79%) and perusal of the literature (65%) were the sources of SP knowledge most frequently reported. The perceived advantages of SP robotic surgery included lower invasiveness (61%), easier access to the retroperitoneal or extraperitoneal space (53%), better cosmetic results (44%), and lower postoperative pain (44%). The most "appealing'' SP procedures were retroperitoneal partial nephrectomy via an anterior approach (43%) and transvesical simple prostatectomy (43%). Within the limitations of this type of analysis, our findings suggest high interest and a positive attitude towards SP technology overall. Patient summary: Technology for single -port (SP) robotic surgery, in which just one skin incision is made in the abdomen to perform the operation, will soon be available in Europe. We conducted a survey on SP surgery among European experts in urological robotic surgery. The results show that there is high interest in and a positive attitude to SP surgery. The SP approach could result in better cosmetic results and lower postoperative pain for patients. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association of Urology. This is an open access article under the CC BY -NC -ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).