A study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
A study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery found that robotic-assisted mitral valve repair has short-term outcomes comparable to conventional surgery. The research, which analyzed data from over 40,000 patients treated between 2016 and 2020, showed that robotic surgery was associated with shorter hospital stays and lower rates of pulmonary complications, infections, and acute kidney injury. However, the costs were significantly higher, with a median cost of $46,800 for robotic-assisted repair versus $38,500 for conventional surgery.
After adjusting for risk factors, most outcome differences disappeared, except for cost and length of stay. The study also suggested that hospitals performing more robotic procedures tend to have lower cost differences over time.
An editorial by specialists at Cedars-Sinai raised concerns about the accessibility of robotic mitral repair, noting that it is more commonly performed on higher-income patients and may not be generalizable to the broader population. The editorial called for more long-term data to better assess cost-effectiveness.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000349752400941X