New web-based system for logging robotic surgery experience

Physicians from Loyola Medicine in Illinois have developed a tool to improve the reporting of robotic surgeries performed in training. A study on the RoboLog system was published in the Journal of Surgical Education.

Currently, residents log robotic cases as “surgeon” if they performed any step of a procedure. Without proper standardization identifying specific task or how much a procedure was completed, surgical ability is not displayed. The RoboLog web-based system includes 11 common urologic robotic procedures, each having a separated drop-down menu listing the steps of the surgery, where residents check off the steps they performed and how long it took to complete.

 “Our current system for logging robotic experience is lacking given the fact that resident involvement on the surgical console is variable,” wrote first author Kristin Baldea, MD, and colleagues. “Widespread usage of a logging system with more insight into step-specific involvement is needed. RoboLog fills this need and can be used to track robotic training progress and aid in development of a standardized curriculum.”

The study evaluated RoboLog with 310 urology cases over the course of a year and found 82 percent of 151 robotic prostatectomies were logged as being performed by a “surgeon,” but urethral transection only measured 35 percent. The median time to log a case was 59 seconds and 53.5 seconds for a supervision surgeon to review it.