Robotic nasopharyngectomy: early results and morbidities

Abstract

Surgical salvage of locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma has been established to be an effective salvage treatment. Our group has pioneered the use of the da Vinci surgical robot to perform transoral robotic nasopharyngectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 2010 – 2015, 23 robotic nasopharyngectomies were performed through the on 22 patients. There were 16 male and 6 female patients. One patient received a second resection. Median age of the patients was 55 (29-85). RESULTS: Median operative time was 236 (125-574) minutes. Median hospital stay was 8 days (4-15). There was no early post-operative mortality. Follow up ranged from 1 month to 60 months. Of the 18 patients that have more than 6 months follow up, 3 patients developed local recurrence but were all alive to date. 1 patient died of distant metastasis without local recurrence and 2 died of pneumonia. Estimated median survival was 42.7 months. 2 year actuarial local control rate was 83%. There was no early post-operative mortality. One patient developed severe angioedema in recovery room and suffered from hypoxic brain damage. 2 patients had permanent palate fistula and 5 patients developed persistent otitis media with effusion. 6 patients had asymptomatic osteoradionecrosis while 3 patients and symptomatic osteoradionecrosis.