Anesthesia and robotic surgery

The anesthetic care of a patient for robotic surgery involves an understanding of thephysiologic changes that occur due to insufflation of CO2 into the peritoneal cavity. Theresultant pneumoperitoneum affects all organ systems. The anesthesiologist must beaware of these derangements, so that they may anticipate and treat the perturbations inphysiology that transpire throughout a robotic surgical procedure. A completepreoperative evaluation, vigilant intraoperative care, and a carefully monitored postoperativecourse are all needed to safely anesthetize each patient undergoing roboticsurgery. A review of complications from robotic surgery will be discussed.Understanding the complications will facilitate the anesthesiologist's awareness of theunique anesthetic challenges posed by robotic surgery.