TY  - JOUR
U1  - Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
A1  - Imkamp, Florian
A1  - Herrmann, Thomas R.W.
A1  - Tolkach, Yuri
A1  - Dziuba, Sebastian
A1  - Stolzenburg, Jens U.
A1  - Rassweiler, Jens
A1  - Sulser, Tullio
A1  - Zimmermann, Uwe
A1  - Merseburger, Axel S.
A1  - Kuczyk, Markus A.
A1  - Burchardt, Martin
T1  - Acceptance, Prevalence and Indications for Robot-Assisted Laparoscopy - Results of a Survey Among Urologists in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
JF  - Urologia Internationalis
N2  - Background: Robotic-assisted laparoscopy (RAL) is being widely accepted in the field of urology as a replacement for conventional laparoscopy (CL). Nevertheless, the process of its integration in clinical routines has been rather spontaneous. Objective: To determine the prevalence of robotic systems (RS) in urological clinics in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the acceptance of RAL among urologists as a replacement for CL and its current use for 25 different urological indications. Materials and Methods: To elucidate the practice patterns of RAL, a survey at hospitals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland was conducted. All surgically active urology departments in Germany (303), Austria (37) and Switzerland (84) received a questionnaire with questions related to the one-year period prior to the survey. Results: The response rate was 63%. Among the participants, 43% were universities, 45% were tertiary care centres, and 8% were secondary care hospitals. A total of 60 RS (Germany 35, Austria 8, Switzerland 17) were available, and the majority (68%) were operated under public ownership. The perception of RAL and the anticipated superiority of RAL significantly differed between robotic and non-robotic surgeons. For only two urologic indications were more than 50% of the procedures performed using RAL: pyeloplasty (58%) and transperitoneal radical prostatectomy (75%). On average, 35% of robotic surgeons and only 14% of non-robotic surgeons anticipated RAL superiority in some of the 25 indications. Conclusions: This survey provides a detailed insight into RAL implementation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. RAL is currently limited to a few urological indications with a small number of high-volume robotic centres. These results might suggest that a saturation of clinics using RS has been achieved but that the existing robotic capacities are being utilized ineffectively. The possible reasons for this finding are discussed, and certain strategies to solve these problems are offered.
KW  - -
KW  - Austria
KW  - da Vinci
KW  - Europe
KW  - Germany
KW  - Indications
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Prevalence
KW  - Surgical procedures
KW  - Robot assisted laparoscopy
KW  - Robotics
KW  - Switzerland
KW  - Urology
Y1  - 2015
UN  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:9-opus-30739
SN  - 0042-1138
SS  - 0042-1138
SN  - 1423-0399
SS  - 1423-0399
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000430502
DO  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000430502
PM  - 26160360
VL  - 95
IS  - 3
SP  - 336
EP  - 345
PB  - S. Karger AG
CY  - Basel, Switzerland
ER  -