ArticleInterdisciplinary cardiovascular and thoracic surgery2025
A European survey on non-technical skills in robotic thoracic surgery for lung resections.
Article in Interdisciplinary cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early clinical outcomes of thoracic surgery using the Saroa surgical system: a single institution retrospective observational study of perioperative outcomes.Surgical endoscopy · 2026Article
- Robotic thoracic surgery training in the UK and Republic of Ireland: national survey of trainee exposure, preparedness, and barriers.Journal of robotic surgery · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesIn robotic surgery, interaction between team-members differs from that in open surgery, which impacts the team-members' tasks and responsibilities. Training for robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) is primarily focused on technical skills. However, non-technical skills (NOTECHS) are equally important for safe and high-quality surgery. There is debate whether NOTECHS require adjustments to meet specific needs of RATS. The aim of this study is to evaluate how NOTECHS-domains are perceived, performed and trained in European robotic thoracic centers.
methodsA digital exploratory survey was distributed amongst 40 robotic thoracic surgeons in 33 European centers. The survey contained 40 questions concerning the setting, team, robotic platform, operating room set-up, briefing & debriefing (B&D), and NOTECHS.
resultsSurvey response rate was 85%. A training program for RATS is offered by 38%. There is a wide variety in team composition and set-up in the operating room. The B&D checklist is essentially the same as for open surgery. A conversion protocol is available for 85% of surgeons, but 11% is not aware of its contents. Among the four NOTECHS-domains, communication&teamwork is considered most important, followed by situational awareness. In some centers, team-training in NOTECHS is either lacking (36%) or provided only once (33%).
conclusionsAlthough the importance of NOTECHS in RATS is widely recognized among European robotic surgeons, focused and structured team-training in these skills is lacking. Furthermore, a conversion protocol is not always available or known. These findings offer room for improvement and encourage further research.
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