Detailed comparison of the da Vinci Xi and S surgical systems for transaxillary thyroidectomy

Robotic surgical systems have evolved over time. The da Vinci Xi system was developed in 2014 and was expected to solve the shortcomings of the previous S system. Therefore, we conducted this study to compare these 2 systems and identify if the Xi system truly improves surgical outcomes.In this retrospective study, a total of 86 patients with unilateral papillary thyroid carcinoma without central lymph node involvement underwent gasless transaxillary hemithyroidectomy using 2 robotic systems, the da Vinci S and Xi. Forty patients were in the da Vinci S group and 46 patients were in the da Vinci Xi group. All surgeries were performed by 1 surgeon (YWC). All surgery video files were analyzed to compare the duration of each surgical step.The total operation time was significantly shorter in the Xi group than in the S group (153.0 minutes vs 105.7 minutes, P