ArticleSurgical endoscopy2026
Current status and 10-year trends of reimbursed robot-assisted surgery in Japan: a nationwide claims-based study using the NDB Open Data.
Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince reimbursement under Japan's National Health Insurance system, robot-assisted surgery (RAS) has expanded rapidly. However, comprehensive cross-disciplinary analyses describing long-term adoption trends and regional variation remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate nationwide adoption and distribution of reimbursed RAS across surgical specialties in Japan.
methodsWe performed a population-based study using publicly available claims data from the National Database (NDB) Open Data (2014-2023). All procedures reimbursed as RAS as of fiscal year 2023, along with corresponding endoscopic and open procedures, were included. Ten-year trends in RAS volume were analyzed across surgical fields and procedure categories. For representative procedures in fiscal year 2023, prefecture-level and age- and sex-specific variations in surgical approach were examined.
resultsBy 2023, 47 reimbursed robotic procedures were classified into 20 categories across four surgical fields. Annual RAS volume increased markedly, reaching 95,845 procedures in 2023. Urology accounted for the largest share (40,673 cases), followed by gastrointestinal surgery and gynecology. Radical prostatectomy was the most common robotic procedure, followed by rectal resection and nephrectomy for malignant tumors. Robotic utilization was highest in urology; within gastrointestinal surgery, esophagectomy and rectal resection showed relatively high adoption. Substantial prefecture-level variation was observed, with patterns differing by procedure and not consistently correlating with minimally invasive surgery rates. RAS adoption was strongly associated with the number of certified robotic surgery proctors in several procedures. For selected procedures, including gastrectomy, robotic and minimally invasive utilization decreased with increasing age.
conclusionRAS has expanded rapidly in Japan, with marked procedural and regional variation. These population-level findings may inform implementation strategies and health policy for robotic surgery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42806088What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.