Transoral Robotic Surgery

Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) is a technique used to treat oral, throat, and skull base cancers using a minimally invasive robotic approach through the mouth and throat. The TORS procedure allows deeper access and dissection of suspicious lesions and neoplastic growths in the oral cavity and those that extend from the throat to the base of the skull. Robotic surgery allows the surgeon to operate in tight spaces without a large open incision. This article discusses symptoms and risk factors of oral, throat, and skull base cancers; types of procedures that can be performed using the TORS approach; specialized instrumentation; patient selection; surgical advantages and disadvantages; patient benefits; and the role of the surgical team in preparing to intraoperatively care for the TORS patient.