Robotic sleeve lobectomy: technical details and early results

Sleeve lobectomy as described in other parts of this journal’s special edition avoids the morbidity of the resection of another lobe of the lung. More importantly, it often avoids the vastly increased morbidity of pneumonectomy. There are few reports of sleeve lobectomy performed via minimally invasive techniques. Zhou and colleagues in 2015 reported on 10 patients (1) and showed that sleeve lobectomy can be performed safely with similar early and late outcomes compared to a sleeve lobectomy performed via thoracotomy. We are aware of no published reports of robotic sleeve lobectomy except for a few case reports, yet we know several surgeons who have performed a handful safely. This chapter we will focus on the specific technical aspects of robotic sleeve resections of the airway and also briefly outline our early results in 8 patients which maybe the largest series of robotic sleeves.