Robotic assisted single site surgery: a decade of innovation

The dawn of the era of single incision minimally invasive surgery, or single port surgery, was first realized with laparoscopy. Beginning with simple procedures surgeons began to apply this concept to a growing variety of procedures. Despite demonstrating its feasibility and associated favorable patient outcomes, single port laparoscopy remained a challenging procedure and was unsuccessful in gaining significant traction. With the addition of the robotic surgery, single port surgery was dramatically changed. With the aid of the robotic platform, surgeons were able to overcome the challenges and limitations of laparoscopy. Since the first reports of robotic assisted single port surgery in 2009, surgeons across all specialties and subspecialties have found application in their practice. In this review, we highlight the last decade of single site robotic surgery and discuss the current challenges.