Current status of robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer: A review of recent randomized controlled trials

Robotic gastrectomy is a promising alternative to overcome the technical limitations of laparoscopic gastrectomy. Its indications have broadened in diverse surgical fields, demonstrating the advantages of using advanced instruments. Although evidence for the efficacy of robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer has been consistently published, high-quality evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has only recently been published. This article reviewed the latest RCTs comparing robotic gastrectomy with laparoscopic gastrectomy. Robotic gastrectomy showed postoperative outcomes equivalent to those of laparoscopic gastrectomy. Some researchers have suggested that robotic gastrectomy can reduce intraoperative blood loss and improve the outcomes of lymphadenectomies. Although it is more expensive than laparoscopic gastrectomy, the cost is expected to decrease as robotic gastrectomy is increasingly applied in the surgical field. Therefore, large-scale multicenter RCTs are urgently needed to acquire strong evidence in the future.