Objective Performance Indicators May Aid in Assessing Surgeon Skill with Robotic Surgery

Gerull W, Kulason S, Shields MC, et al. Impact of Robotic Surgery Objective Performance Indicators: A Systematic Review. J Am Coll Surg. 2024, in press.

This systematic review of the literature sought to assess the value of objective performance indicators (OPI) for determining surgeon skill in performing robotic procedures and effectiveness of the robotic platform.

Currently, assessments of surgeon performance are performed by expert observers; this approach requires a significant investment of time and other resources and is underutilized because of these factors. The authors noted that information that would permit construction of OPI, in contrast, can be generated automatically in real time by the robotic platform and made available immediately.

Examples of this information include videos, robotic kinematics, and robotic system log data. These data can be used to measure surgical skill, operative workflow, and process improvement.

This review of available evidence found that OPI can provide insights, but these are influenced by surgeon and patient factors. The review suggests that OPI can potentially provide accurate data to determine surgeon expertise and measure performance of the robotic platform.

The authors recommended further investigation that could lead to integration of OPI into surgeon and robotic platform assessment protocols.