Ep106: Surgeon Interview: Robotic Surgery for Endo with Excision Surgeon Dr. Dulemba

We interview Dr Dulemba, an excision surgeon who has been in private practice in Denton, Texas, since 1986. He’s performed over 5000 standard laparoscopic endometriosis cases and over 2300 robotic endometriosis cases! He's been performing robotic surgery since 2007, and now all his surgeries are done via robotics. 

Dr. Dulemba has published papers addressing pelvic pain, laparoscopy, endometriosis, and robotic surgery. Today, he shares his insight on robotic surgery, including safety, advantages, and disadvantages.

Note: Excision surgery can be via robotic surgery or a standard laparoscopy – both techniques can potentially give the patient a good outcome with low complication rates. The robot is just a tool. It doesn’t make or break your surgery, or mean that you will have any better or worse surgery because of it when in the hands of an expert. What’s most important is not if it’s robotic or standard laparoscopy, but rather the surgeon’s ability to recognize endometriosis in all its colors, appearances, and locations, and to safely excise it from all locations.

Clickable links at insixteenyears.com/episode106

CONNECT WITH DR. DULEMBA:Dr Delumba works at the Women’s Centre in Denton, Texashttps://www.womenscentre.net/

--Robotic Surgery. From Dr John F. Dulemba. 

RESOURCES:—Laparoscopy vs. Robotic Surgery for Endometriosis (LAROSE): a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial. Soto E, Luu TH, Liu X, Magrina JF, Wasson MN, Einarsson JI, Cohen SL, Falcone T. Fertil Steril. 2017 Apr;107(4):996-1002.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.12.033. Epub 2017 Feb 24. PMID: 28238489.

—Robotic surgery vs laparoscopic surgery in patients with diagnosis of endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Restaino S, Mereu L, Finelli A, Spina MR, Marini G, Catena U, Turco LC, Moroni R, Milani M, Cela V, Scambia G, Fanfani F. J Robot Surg. 2020 Oct;14(5):687-694. doi: 10.1007/s11701-020-01061-y. Epub 2020 Mar 7. PMID: 32146573.

—Robotic surgery in gynecology. Sinha R, Sanjay M, Rupa B, Kumari S. J Minim Access Surg. 2015 Jan-Mar;11(1):50-9. doi: 10.4103/0972-9941.147690. PMID: 25598600; PMCID: PMC4290120.

—The current role of robotic surgery in endometriosis management. Andres MP, Souza C, Villaescusa M, Vieira M, Abrao MS.Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Jan;17(1):63-73. doi: 10.1080/17446651.2022.2031976. Epub 2022 Jan 24. PMID: 35073819.

—Comparison of robot-assisted and conventional laparoscopy for colorectal surgery for endometriosis: A prospective cohort study. Ferrier C, Le Gac M, Kolanska K, Boudy AS, Dabi Y, Touboul C, Bendifallah S, Daraï E. Int J Med Robot. 2022 Jun;18(3):e2382. doi: 10.1002/rcs.2382. Epub 2022 Mar 1. PMID: 35178837.

—Perioperative outcomes of robotic assisted laparoscopic surgery versus conventional laparoscopy surgery for advanced-stage endometriosis. Nezhat FR, Sirota I. JSLS. 2014. Oct-Dec;18(4):e2014.00094. doi: 10.4293/JSLS.2014.00094. PMID: 25489208; PMCID: PMC4254472.

—Robot-Assisted Surgery for Endometriosis Current and Future Perspectives. Mikhail E, Pavlovic ZJ, Al Jumaily M, Kheil MH, Moawad GN, Soares T. Surg Technol Int. 2022 May 19;40:197-202. doi: 10.52198/22.STI.40.GY1562. PMID: 35415833.