by Sarfati, Benjamin; Struk,
Samuel; Leymarie, Nicolas; Honart, Jean-François; Alkhashnam, Heba; Kolb,
Frédéric; Rimareix, Françoise
Summary:
Robotic nipple-sparing mastectomy could be a significant advancement in the
treatment and prophylaxis of selected breast cancers. Motion-scaling,
high-resolution, three-dimensional optics; tremor elimination; and instruments
with enhanced precision with 7 degrees of freedom have allowed surgeons to
overcome the limitations experienced with the endoscopic approach in breast
surgery. Advantages of this procedure, in comparison with the open technique,
are a shorter and more acceptable scar located in the lateral thoracic region,
and greater respect for the vascularization of the mastectomy skin flap,
because there is no incision on the breast and no retractors are used. The
authors recently received approval from both the French health authorities and
the ethics committee to carry out a clinical trial in their institution to assess
feasibility, reproducibility, and safety of robotic nipple-sparing mastectomy
with immediate prosthetic breast reconstruction. The aims of this article are
to describe the surgical technique they have developed, and to share, through a
video, the clinical experience gained from over 60 procedures performed so far.
