Comparison of Operative Times for Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Sacro colpopexy with or without use of a Novel Suture and Needle Management Device

Patrick Culligan; Jennifer Priestley

Authors

Patrick Culligan Director of Urogynecology, Valley Hospital, Paramus, NJ Clinical Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2982-8667
Dr. Jennifer L. Priestley Professor of Analytics and Data Science (retired), School of Data Science and Analytics, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia Author

Keywords:

Novel Suture, Needle Management Device, Laparoscopic Sacro colpopexy, Robotic

Abstract

Objective: To compare operative times with or without the use of a novel suture and needle management device.

Methods: Retrospective study of all patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy during a two-year span. Two experienced robotic surgeons (“Surgeon A” and “Surgeon B”) did the cases using standardized techniques except that Surgeon A used a novel suture and needle management device and Surgeon B used individual sutures passed into and retrieved by the bedside assistant. Age, BMI, pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) stage, and concomitant sling placement and/or hysterectomy were compared between groups.

Results: Surgeons A and B performed 193 and 93 cases, respectively. Demographics were similar between groups. The mean operative times (in minutes) for Surgeons A and B were 159.8 (±31.9) and 190.9 (±33.9), respectively (p<0.0001). Surgeon B’s group underwent more slings (91.49% vs. 64.25%, p <.0001) and may have been slightly more likely to have undergone concomitant hysterectomy (87.23% vs. 78.24%, p=.07), but no interaction effects were found (p=.84).

Conclusions: The significantly faster mean operative times by Surgeon A cannot be explained by experience, surgical technique, surgical team, patient demographics, or any procedural details other than the use of the novel suture and needle management device.

Author Biographies

Patrick Culligan, Director of Urogynecology, Valley Hospital, Paramus, NJ Clinical Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

I am an attending urogynecologist at Valley Hospital in Paramus, NJ, and I am a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
Dr. Jennifer L. Priestley, Professor of Analytics and Data Science (retired), School of Data Science and Analytics, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia

Dr. Priestley recently retired as a tenured full professor of statistics at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA.