The Study
First Annual Report for Robot‐Assisted Surgery Based on the National Clinical Database 2019 in Japan: Report on Three Major Gastrointestinal Fields
This study is like taking a photo of all robot surgeries done in Japan in one year. It shows what happened — how long surgeries took, how much blood was lost, and how many people had complications — but it doesn’t compare them to other types of surgery. So we can’t say if robot surgery is better or worse, just what the results were for these patients.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
In Japan, doctors used robot helpers to do tough stomach and bowel surgeries in 2019. Almost all were done by super-trained surgeons using a top robot model.
Where does this study sit?
Systematic Reviews & Meta-analyses
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control
Max 58Cross-Sectional
Max 44Case Reports & Series
Max 30Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Detailed descriptions of individual patients or small groups. Valuable for identifying new conditions or side effects, but cannot establish generalizable conclusions.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though robot surgeries took a long time, they were safe and precise, but some types still led to more complications than others.
- 2Robots helped remove tumors completely in over 90% of cases.
- 3Blood loss was low.
- 4But 1 in 4 had serious issues after esophagus surgery, while fewer had problems after stomach or rectal surgery.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Asian Journal of Endoscopic Surgery
Year
2026
Authors
I. Takemasa, Hiroyuki Yamamoto, T. Nishigori, Takeo Fujita, T. Makino, Yusuke Taniyama, Masanori Terashima, Masanori Tokunaga, T. Matsuyama, Tomohiro Yamaguchi, Noriko Iwata, H. Katsuno, Koichi Suda, Yusuke Kinugasa, K. Obama, Takashi Kamei, I. Uyama, Masahiko Watanabe, Yoshiharu Sakai, Yuko Kitagawa
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.