Robotic Surgery: An Example of When Newer Is Not Always Better but Clearly More Expensive
本文以达芬奇手术机器人为例，指出机器人手术虽比传统开放手术昂贵，但并未像腹腔镜手术那样显著改善患者预后，对医疗政策制定者和外科医生有参考价值。
hen the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved the da Vinci surgical robot for clinical use in 2000, many people assumed that robotic surgery would have as much effect on improving patient outcomes as had minimally invasive, or laparoscopic, surgery. A decade after its introduction, laparoscopic surgery and the smaller incisions it uses produced clear evidence that patients generally did better-faster recoveries, shorter hospital stays, less bleeding, and so forth-than with more "traditional" or open surgery. That said, in some instances surgeons believe they will have better outcomes if they have both the sight and the feel of the whole area allowed by traditional incisions.