Robotic surgery and anesthesia for pediatric urologic procedures

Purpose of review Minimally invasive approaches to pediatric surgery have become increasingly popular over the last 15 years. With the advent of robotically controlled instruments, common pediatric urologic surgeries such as pyeloplasty and ureteral reimplantation, which were previously technically challenging, are now commonly performed laparoscopically. It is important to recognize the unique physiologic considerations with this approach and how to provide safe and effective anesthesia for these procedures. Recent findings Although there are multiple studies in the surgical literature describing robot-assisted laparoscopic approaches for pediatric urologic surgery, there are few articles that describe the anesthetic considerations for this type of surgery in children. As the first pediatric hospital in the USA to obtain a surgical robot in 2001, a consistent, collaborative approach has been developed to care for infants and children undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Summary Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery is increasingly utilized for common pediatric urologic surgeries. To provide safe and effective anesthesia for this type of surgery, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the multiple physiologic derangements that occur with robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in infants and children, the potential complications that can occur with this approach and have a consistent approach to the anesthetic management and postoperative pain control for these procedures.