What is the optimal minimally invasive surgical procedure for endometrial cancer staging in the obese and morbidly obese woman?

Objective. Thirty-three percent of U.S, women are either obese or morbidly obese. This is associated with an increased risk of death from all causes and is also associated with an increased risk of endometrial carcinoma. We sought to compare minimally invasive surgical techniques for staging the obese and morbidly obese woman with endometrial cancer. Material and methods. Consecutive robotic endometrial cancer staging procedures were collected from 2005-2007 and were compared to consecutive laparoscopic cases (2000-2004). Demographics including age, weight, body mass index (BMI), operative time, estimated blood loss, lymph node retrieval, hospital stay and complications were collected and compared. Results. During the study period, there were 36 obese and 13 morbidly obese women who underwent surgery with the DaVinci (R) robotic system and 25 obese and 7 morbidly obese women who underwent traditional laparoscopy. For both the obese and morbidly obese patient, robotic surgery was associated with shorter operative time (p=0.0004), less blood loss (p<0.0001), increased lymph node retrieval (p=0.004) and shorter hospital stay (p=0.0119). Conclusions. Robotic surgery is a useful minimally invasive tool for the comprehensive surgical staging of the obese and morbidly obese woman with endometrial cancer. As this patient population is at increased risk of death from all causes, including post-operative complications, all efforts should be made to improve their outcomes and minimally invasive surgery provides a useful platform by which this can occur. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.