Robotic colorectal resections are associated with less postoperative pain, decreased opioid use, and earlier return to work as compared to the laparoscopic approach

While robotic and laparoscopic surgeries are both minimally invasive in nature, they are intrinsically different approaches and it is critical to understand outcome differences between the two. Studies evaluating pain outcomes and opioid requirement differences between the robotic and laparoscopic colorectal resections are conflicting and often underpowered. In this retrospective, cohort study, we compare postoperative opioid requirements, reported as morphine milligram equivalents (MME), postoperative average and highest pain scores across postoperative days (POD) 0–5, and return to work in patients who underwent robotic versus laparoscopic colorectal resections. The sample size was selected based on power calculations. Daily pain scores and MME were used as outcomes in linear mixed effect models with unstructured covariance between time points. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for imbalances. Patients in the robotic group required significantly less opioids as measured by MME on all postoperative days ( p = 0.004), as well as lower average and highest daily pain scores for POD 0–5 ( p = 0.02, and p = 0.006, respectively). In a linear mixed-effects model, robotic resections were associated with a decrease in average pain scores by 0.36 over time ( p = 0.03) and 35 fewer MME requirements than the laparoscopic group ( p = 0.0004). Patients in the robotic arm had earlier return to work (2.1 vs 3.8 days, p = 0.036). The robotic approach to colorectal resections is associated with significantly less postoperative pain, decreased opioid requirements, and earlier return to work when compared to laparoscopy, suggesting that the robotic platform provides important clinical advantages over the laparoscopic approach.