Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE:During robotic lobectomy (RL), the surgeon can elect to use either robotic staplers or hand-held laparoscopic staplers. It is assumed that either will result in similar outcomes, while robotic staplers increase cost. We sought to compare perioperative outcomes and costs between RL cases that utilized robotic staplers versus hand-held staplers in real-world clinical practice. METHODS:Patients who underwent an elective RL between October 2015 and December 2017 were identified in the Premier Hospital Perspective Database. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed to compare perioperative outcomes, healthcare resource utilization, and costs between cases using robotic staplers and hand-held staplers during RL. RESULTS:= 0.22). CONCLUSIONS:Among RL cases, utilization of robotic staplers was associated with significantly lower risks of perioperative bleeding, conversion, and possibly air leak and overall complications compared to RL cases utilizing hand-held staplers. The choice of stapler may have an impact on outcomes and robotic staplers do not increase total costs.

Rationale: Treatment for patients with pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease includes long, multi-drug, and toxic medication regimens. Despite medical therapy, the rate of sputum culture conversion is low. Surgical resection is an alternative treatment for patients with localized or refractory NTM infection. Traditionally, resection of the affected lung was achieved via open thoracotomy. Robot-assisted surgery is less invasive and similarly effective, but has not been used routinely in this population. To our knowledge, this is the first report of robotic surgery for patients with complex NTM disease.
Method(s): Using the electronic medical record we identified patients with NTM disease that underwent robotic anatomic pulmonary resection by an experienced surgeon. All surgeries were done at NYU Langone Medical Center between August 2017 and February 2020. We collected data on demographics, NTM species, antibiotic course, pre- and post-operative sputum cultures, and surgical complications.
Result(s): We identified 8 patients that met the criteria. 100% of the patients were female and 88% were white. Mean age at time of surgery was 53 years. The most common indication for surgery was cavitary disease, followed by failure of medical therapy, and hemoptysis. All of the patients had pre-operative sputum cultures positive Mycobacterium avium complex. Prior to surgery, 63% of patients required IV antibiotics. Lobectomy was the most common operation performed and none of the surgeries were converted to open thoracotomy. There were no post-operative bleeds requiring transfusion, pneumonias, pneumothoraces, or bronchopleural fistulas. One patient had an air leak > 5 days. None of the patients required an ICU stay and the median length of hospital stay was 2.5 days. There were no deaths. Patients were considered cured if they had sputum culture conversion or no longer required antibiotics. Partial cure was defined as symptom improvement or de-escalation of medical regimen. Six of the patients were completely cured, one patient was partially cured, and one patient was lost to follow-up.
Conclusion(s): Surgical resection for patients with complex NTM disease can be performed using minimally invasive, robotic techniques safely and without the need for conversion to open thoracotomy, blood transfusions, or ICU stay. In this small cohort of patients, robotic surgery had a high rate of cure, few post-operative complications, and a short length of hospital stay. Larger studies can assist with validating robotic surgery as the preferred approach in these patients

OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in patient reluctance to seek care due to fear of contracting the virus, especially in New York City which was the epicentre during the surge. The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate the safety of patients who have undergone pulmonary resection for lung cancer as well as provider safety, using COVID-19 testing, symptoms and early patient outcomes. METHODS:Patients with confirmed or suspected pulmonary malignancy who underwent resection from 13 March to 4 May 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS:Between 13 March and 4 May 2020, 2087 COVID-19 patients were admitted, with a median daily census of 299, to one of our Manhattan campuses (80% of hospital capacity). During this time, 21 patients (median age 72 years) out of 45 eligible surgical candidates underwent pulmonary resection-13 lobectomies, 6 segmentectomies and 2 pneumonectomies were performed by the same providers who were caring for COVID-19 patients. None of the patients developed major complications, 5 had minor complications, and the median length of hospital stay was 2 days. No previously COVID-19-negative patient (n = 20/21) or healthcare provider (n = 9: 3 surgeons, 3 surgical assistants, 3 anaesthesiologists) developed symptoms of or tested positive for COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS:Pulmonary resection for lung cancer is safe in selected patients, even when performed by providers who care for COVID-19 patients in a hospital with a large COVID-19 census. None of our patients or providers developed symptoms of COVID-19 and no patient experienced major morbidity or mortality.

BACKGROUND:Our objective is to report our outcomes and demonstrate our evolving technique for robotic sleeve resection of the airway, with or without lobectomy, using video vignettes. METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed a single surgeon prospective database from October 2010 to October 2019. RESULTS:Over 9 years, there were 5,573 operations of which 1951 were planned for a robotic approach. There were 755 robotic lobectomies, 306 robotic segmentectomies, and 23 consecutive patients were scheduled for elective completely portal, robotic sleeve resection. Sleeve lobectomy was performed in 18 patients: 10 right upper lobe, 6 left upper lobe, and 2 right lower lobe. Two patients had mainstem bronchus resections and two underwent right bronchus intermedius resections that preserved all of the lung. One patient had a robotic pneumonectomy. There was one conversion to open thoracotomy due to concern for anastomotic tension in a patient who received neoadjuvant therapy. All patients had an R0 resection. In the last 10 operations, we modified our airway anastomosis, using a running self-locking absorbable suture. The median length of stay was 3 days (range 1-11). There were no 30- or 90-day mortalities. Within a median follow-up of 18 months, there were no anastomotic strictures and no recurrent cancers. CONCLUSIONS:Our early and midterm results show that a completely portal robotic sleeve resection is safe and oncologically effective. The technical aspects of a robotic sleeve resection of the airway are demonstrated using video vignettes.

BACKGROUND:Our objectives are to present our outcomes of robotic segmentectomy and our preferred technique for nodule localization using indocyanine green both bronchoscopically and intravenously. METHODS:This is a retrospective review of a consecutive series of patients scheduled for robotic segmentectomy from a single surgeon's prospectively collected database. RESULTS:Between January 2010 and October 2018, there were 245 consecutive patients who underwent planned robotic segmentectomy by one surgeon, of which 93 (38%) received indocyanine green via electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy and all 245 received intravenous indocyanine green. Median time for navigational bronchoscopy was 9 minutes. Navigational bronchoscopy with indocyanine green correctly identified the lesion in 80 cases (86%). Our preferred technique is: 0.5 mL of 25 mg of indocyanine green diluted in 10 mL of saline given bronchoscopically, followed by a 0.5 mL saline flush, staying at least 4 mm from the pleural surface. The remaining 9.5 mL of indocyanine green is administered intravenously after pulmonary artery ligation. An R0 resection was achieved in all 245 patients, a median of 17 lymph nodes were resected, and the average length of stay was 3.1 days (range 1-21 days). Major morbidity occurred in 3 patients and there were no 30 or 90-day mortalities. CONCLUSIONS:Robotic segmentectomy is safe with excellent early clinical outcomes. In our series, electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy and indocyanine green localization is efficient and effective at identifying the target lesion. Intravenous indocyanine green delineates the intersegmental plane.

Robotic resection of pulmonary lesions has become a more common approach in the field of thoracic surgery. The greatest drawback of robotic resection is the lack of tactile feedback as compared to open approaches, making identification of intrapulmonary lesion difficult. Electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (navibronch) enables pre-incisional marking of pulmonary lesions for intraoperative identification. We sought to determine how effective navibronch was in our institution's robotic cases. Thirty-one patients underwent robotically assisted resection of 35 lesions with the assistance of navibronch from 7/2014 to 9/2015. Retrospective demographic and operative data were collected on these patients, and statistical analysis was conducted using ANOVA means testing, Chi-square, and non-parametric tests. The average age in this patient population was 63.7 ± 13.5 years. Eight patients (25.8%) were male. Twenty-five (80.6%) of the patients had pathology involving one lobe, with six (19.4%) in two lobes. 34 of the resections (97.1%) resulted in dye being localized to the first specimen; 34 (97.1%) were found to have the target pathology in the initial specimen. Further resection was carried out in 22 (62.9%) cases, with the final resection resulting in a segment in 2 (5.7%) and a lobe in 14 (40.0%). The mean number of lung specimens collected was 1.94 ± 0.13. The mean number of tumors in each target resection was 1.46 ± 0.66 in final pathology. Malignancy was found in 19 (54.3%) of final specimens. There were no complications related to navibronch. Navibronch is an effective technique in the identification and localization of pulmonary lesions in robotically assisted lung resections.