A novel robotic system designed to perform endoscopic submucosal dissection of early gastric neoplasia was safe and effective in a five-patient trial, reported Soo Jay Phee, Ph.D., and colleagues in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Indeed, the first human study of the robotic device showed that it achieved clear margins, no cases of major bleeding or perforation, and discharge within hours for several of the patients.
Dr. Phee of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and first author Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Somajiguda, India, enrolled five patients from two centers in India and one in Hong Kong.
Only patients with gastric neoplasia limited to the mucosa, confirmed by biopsy and histopathology, were included.
All patients underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection with the assistance of a novel device called the Master and Slave Transluminal Endoscopic Robot (MASTER). The MASTER device has been described previously (Gastrointest. Endoscopy 2010;72:593-9).
According to the authors, the device is controlled by two operators, "one responsible for the steering of the endoscope while the other would be performing the submucosal dissection with the two robotic arms."
The investigators added, "The open edge of the mucosa with the tumor was grasped by one of the robotic arms to retract the mucosa and enhance exposure of the submucosa, while submucosal dissection was completed with the other L hook arm" (Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2012 October [doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2012.05.019]).
All procedures were performed under general anesthesia and with ventilation by naso- or orotracheal intubation. All operators trained on porcine models prior to the study.
In the case of the first patient, a 41-year-old man with a 2-cm adenocarcinoma in the body of the stomach, "the submucosal dissection with the robotic system was successfully done in 19 minutes," reported the authors.
There was no bleeding for perforation, and histopathology of the specimen after retrieval showed intramucosal well-differentiated adenocarcinoma with clear resection margins. The patient was discharged after 12 hours.
The second case, a 60-year-old man, was found to have a 1.5-cm mucosal adenocarcinoma in the gastric antrum. "The submucosal dissection was completed in only 5 minutes," wrote the authors, with no complications, and clear margins on histopathology. The patient was discharged in 6 hours.
Similarly, the third patient (a 39-year-old man) had a 2-cm sessile lesion in the gastric antrum. Submucosal dissection with the MASTER was completed in 3 minutes, with no complications, clear margins, and discharge from the hospital 4 hours later.
The longest procedure was done in a 51-year-old woman with a 3-cm early gastric cancer; this procedure took 50 minutes. She had no major bleeding or perforation, had clear margins on histopathology, and had a 3-day hospital stay.
Finally, a 50-year-old man with a 2.5-cm sessile polypoid in the inferior wall of the prepyloric canal underwent a 16-minute dissection. "Severe bleeding was encountered during the procedure and required exchange of the MASTER-mounted endoscope for a waterjet endoscope to stop the bleeding with coagulation grapser," wrote the authors.
"The pathology showed hyperplastic polyp with clear margins. He was discharged from hospital on day 3 after the procedure."
At 30 days’ follow-up, no complications were reported by any of the patients, and the follow-up endoscopy showed "complete healing" of the resection site. At 6 months, the three patients with data available were "doing well," according to the authors.
The study was supported by a MedTech Seeding Fund from the National University of Singapore. The authors reported having no other relevant financial disclosures.