Abstract:Background and Aims Since the approval of the da Vinci robotic surgical system for clinical use in 2000, robot-assisted surgery has been widely adopted across various disciplines. Due to the complexity of pancreatic and periampullary anatomy, the application of robotic surgery systems in pancreatic surgery started later compared to other specialties. Although a few high-volume pancreatic surgery centers have accumulated experience with thousands of cases of robot-assisted pancreatic surgery (RPS), most units are still in the learning curve stage. This study was conducted to summarize the clinical efficacy and experience of RPS performed during the learning curve period in the authors' center, so as to provide reference information for clinical practice.Methods The clinical data of 50 patients undergoing RPS in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January 2020 to September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, there were 23 cases of pancreaticoduodenectomy, 9 cases of tumor enucleation, 8 cases of distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy, 6 cases of central pancreatectomy, 2 cases of duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection, and 2 cases of spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy. All surgeries were performed by the same team.Results The mean operative time was (275±115) min, with (330±78) min for pancreaticoduodenectomy and (236±59) min for distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy. The average intraoperative blood loss was (315±259) mL. The incidence rates of overall complications and clinically relevant pancreatic fistula were 30.0% and 10.0%, respectively. The rate of Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅲ or above complications was 6.0% (3/50), with no deaths within postoperative 30 d, a conversion rate of 4%, and a reoperation rate of 2%. The mean length of postoperative hospital stay was (13.2±7.7) d. Among the malignant tumor patients (27 cases), the average number of lymph nodes retrieved was 14 (4-34). The average follow-up period was (23.4±9.3) months, with two cases of pancreatic cancer recurrence at 12 and 14 months after operation, while the remaining patients showed no tumor recurrence.Conclusion By rigorously adhering to surgical indications and drawing extensively from mature experiences, conducting RPS progressively advancing from simpler to more challenging cases during the learning curve period, is safe and feasible.