Robotic versus laparoscopic surgery of the liver

In the era of minimally invasive surgery, laparoscopy and robotic surgery have to take a role in liver resection. Laparoscopy for liver resection was first documented in the early 1990s, proving to be as safe as conventional open hepatectomy (1,2). During the intervening years, laparoscopic liver surgery series have demonstrated that the laparoscopic approach is associated with a decreased length of hospital stay and decreased estimated blood loss compared to conventional celiotomy (3-5).