Robotics and transanal minimal invasive surgery (TAMIS): The “sweet spot” for robotics in colorectal surgery?

Excerpt

The article by Atallah et al. [1] in this month’s issue illustrates the possibilities and future for (robotic) transanal surgery. The senior authors have been at the forefront of some of the most recent and exciting innovations in colorectal surgery. In 2009, they reported on their early experience of using a single-port device through the anus with standard laparoscopic instrumentation and “coined” the term transanal minimal invasive surgery (TAMIS) [2]. Similar to transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM), the concept of TAMIS evolved out of necessity, but at a better time in surgical evolution. While TEM was developed by Buess in relative isolation from the later surge in minimal invasive approaches, TAMIS has evolved rapidly into an established technique that revolutionized the practice of many colorectal surgeons and was a real boost for manufacturers and surgical innovators in this field. …