Building a Single-Site Robotic Cholecystectomy Program in a Public Teaching Hospital: Is It Safe for Patients and Feasible for Residents to Participate?

Single-site robotic cholecystectomy (SSRC) accounts for most of the robotic surgery cases performed by general surgeons at our institution since acquiring the da Vinci Si Surgical SystemTM (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) in 2014. We sought to determine whether a SSRC program is safe to start in a public teaching hospital and to determine whether resident participation in this procedure is feasible. Data on age, gender, race, BMI, total operative time, length of stay, comorbidities, and conversion from laparoscopic to open surgery were examined for elective SSRC and laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LCs) performed by two faculty surgeons between February 2015 and August 2015. Thirty-eight patients underwent elective SSRC, whereas 27 patients underwent LC. Residents participated as operating surgeons for some portion of the case in 15 SSRC cases and in all LC cases. There were no significant differences in operative time, length of stay, or 30-day readmission rates, regardless of resident involvement. Patients in the SSRC group had a significantly lower BMI (25.8 vs 33.7, P = 0.008). This study suggests that resident participation does not increase complications or total operative time and that SSRC is a safe procedure to start in a public teaching hospital after proper faculty and resident training.