Current situation and reflection on the robotic gastric cancer surgery in China

Abstract

Robotic gastric cancer surgery in China showed a broad application prospects with the development in the past ten years, but there are also prominent issues, such as low penetration, non-standard operation, and lack of high-quality research. This paper surmarizes the history and present situation, problems and consideration as well as future prospects of robotic gastric cancer surgery in China. The development of robotic gastric cancer surgery in China can be divided into three stages: initial exploratory stage (before 2013, the topics were mainly focused on surgical procedures, safety and feasibility of robotic gastrectomy), stable advancing stage (between 2014 and 2017, the number of centers, cases, types of gastrectomy, and clinical research were increased steadily), and rapid advancing stage (since 2018, the number of centers, cases, and clinical research were increased rapidly). The robotic gastric cancer surgery in China is still in the growth period. We should grasp the development direction of robotic gastrectomy and promote the rapid and favorable development of robotic gastric cancer surgery in China, which can bring benefits for patients.