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DOI: 10.1055/a-2717-4610
Single port robotic vascularized omental lymph node transfer for lymphedema: A novel comparison to open technique
Authors

Background: The da Vinci® Single-Port (SP) system is a robotic surgery platform which allows access into the abdominal cavity through a single short surgical incision. The omentum is an attractive donor site for vascularized omental lymph node transfer (VOLT) in the treatment of lymphedema. We hypothesize that SP robotic VOLT will allow for improvement in perioperative outcomes as compared to open laparotomy for omental flap harvest. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed, comprised of a study sample of patients with a diagnosis of lymphedema who presented to our institution for VOLT using either an open or SP robotic technique between May 2020 and February 2023. The primary outcome was length of hospital stay. The secondary outcomes included intraoperative complication rate, postoperative complication rate, and length of surgery. Results: Fifteen patients underwent da Vinci® SP omental flap harvest and 14 patients underwent open harvest. There was no significant difference in average age, BMI, sex, or lymphedema etiology between the 2 groups. Average length of stay was 2.2 ± 1.7 days in the SP group and 2.3 ± 2.1 days in the open group (p=0.91). There were no significant differences in terms of intraoperative or postoperative complications between the 2 groups. 93% of SP robotic and 86% of open patients reported at least partial subjective improvement following VOLT (p=0.50). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that SP robotic omental harvest for VOLT is feasible. Perioperative outcomes show comparable results in terms of length of hospital stay, complications, and subjective postoperative improvement when comparing open to SP approach.
Publication History
Received: 10 May 2025
Accepted after revision: 20 September 2025
Accepted Manuscript online:
10 October 2025
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