Considerations for Transoral Robotic Surgery

During the past decade, robotic surgery has been progressively incorporated into the mainstream of cardio-thoracic and abdomino-pelvic surgery. With the recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for the treatment of all benign tumors and select malignant tumors of the head and neck, robotic surgery has established its place in otolaryngologic surgery. Given the multispecialty applications and widespread use of robotic surgery, there exists a need for anesthesiologists to familiarize themselves with robotic surgery. This article focuses on TORS and the goal of which is to provide the anesthesiologist with a foundation for caring for the TORS patient in the perioperative period.