Abstract
The current tendency of microsurgery is heading toward supermicrosurgery and microsurgery
assisted by robotics. The aim of this work was to study the feasibility of a free
hallux hemipulp transfer with a surgical robot in a cadaveric model. We used a human
body. The intervention was realized by a Da Vinci SI® robot (Intuitive Surgical™, Sunnyvale, CA) in two stages: first taking off the medial
hallux hemipulp, then transferring the hallux hemipulp to the radial thumb hemipulp.
The intervention lasted 1 hour 59 minutes, exclusively with the Da Vinci SI® robot, without any interruption or outside intervention. Despite the absence of sensory
feedback and an intervention 25% longer than in conventional microsurgery, we have
demonstrated the feasibility of free hallux hemipulp transfer with a surgical robot.
In the future, it is likely that the added benefits of the robot (physiological tremor
suppression, user-friendly ergonomics, ultraprecise control of the instruments) will
make the robot an indispensable tool for the surgeon.
Keywords
robot - flap - toe transfer
