Post-operative pain, nausea, vomiting and optic nerve sheath diameter following total intravenous versus inhalational anesthesia for adults undergoing robotic transabdominal surgery – a systematic review and meta- analysis

The introduction of robotic-assisted abdominal surgery is aimed at reducing the primary and secondary adverse outcomes. Anesthesia in robotic surgery varies from anesthesia for open or laparoscopic surgical procedures. The choice of anesthesia influences the perioperative control of pain, nausea, vomiting, and Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD). The purpose of this systematic review was to assess outcome variation in patients undergoing transabdominal robot-assisted surgery done under total intravenous anesthesia or inhalational anesthesia. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, and Google Scholar (January, 2017 to June, 2024). Search terms included “Anesthesia”, “Robotics”, “prostatectomy”, hysterectomy”, “nephrectomy”, “cholecystectomy” and “cystectomy” with the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR”. We searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including adults of both genders aged 18 years and above, who underwent transabdominal robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery and targeting the consequences related to TIVA or inhalational anesthesia. We reviewed titles and abstracts and proceeded to full-text articles of the eligible studies relevant to inclusion criteria. Mean and standard deviations with 95% CI were calculated. Forest plots were used to present data visually. Six studies (340 patients) were included. We found only one study in which post-operative pain was assessed and results favored intravenous anesthesia in robotic transabdominal surgery. Only two studies reported post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Both studies stated that PONV is reported in few patients in the inhalation anesthesia group. We found evidence suggesting that change in ONSD measurements at 10 min after induction (MD 0.04,95% CI -0.02 to 0.11 p = 0.19) and 40–60 min after Trendelenburg position (MD -0.26, 95% CI -0.34 to 0.17, p = 0.16) are much less in intravenous anesthesia group than in inhalation anesthesia group. Total intravenous anesthesia maintains the ONSD and hence the ICP better than inhalational anesthesia in robotic transabdominal surgery with CO 2 pneumoperitoneum in Trendelenburg positioning requirements. It would be a safer choice than inhalational anesthesia due to fewer adverse events. This review concludes that TIVA is a better choice than inhalational anesthesia for transabdominal robotic-assisted surgery in urology, gynecology, and gastroenterology in both male and female patients.