Robot‐assisted minimally invasive liver surgery in elderly patients: A single‐centre, propensity score‐ matched study

Background The aim was to evaluate the short‐term results of robot‐assisted minimally invasive liver surgery(Robot‐assisted liver surgery (RLS)) in elderly patients. Methods Between November 2019 and July 2022, RLS was performed on 100 consecutive patients. Patients were divided into a middle‐aged group (Group1:＜75years) and an elderly group(Group2:≧75years). A propensity score matching(PSM) analysis with a ratio of 1:1 was performed. Results After PSM, there were 28 patients in each group. There were no significant differences in clinicopathologic characteristics, type of resection and intraoperative variables. Postoperative complications and length of hospital stay were comparable in Groups 1 and 2. In a comparison between minor and major hepatectomy in Group 2, there were no significant differences in any of the factors. Conclusions The study showed that RLS for patients over 75years had similar short‐term outcomes as for younger patients down to middle‐aged, especially the risk of perioperative complications was comparable.