Textbook outcome after robotic pancreatic enucleation: a two-center evaluation of an ideal perioperative pathway

Abstract Introduction Robotic pancreatic enucleation (rPE) has emerged as a parenchyma-sparing surgical approach for benign or low-grade malignant pancreatic lesions. However, standardized metrics to assess perioperative quality are lacking. This study aimed to propose an rPE-specific textbook outcome (rPE-TO) reflecting an ideal perioperative pathway and to evaluate its applicability in two independent institutional cohorts. Material and methods Patients undergoing completed rPE at University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany, between April 2023 and March 2025 were analyzed, and the proposed rPE-TO was additionally evaluated in an independent institutional cohort from Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA. The rPE-TO comprised six components: no conversion to open surgery, no incomplete resection requiring reoperation, no clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF), no major complications (Clavien–Dindo < IIIa, with POPF assessed separately), no readmission within 30 days, and no mortality within 90 days. Results The Heidelberg cohort included 31 patients, of whom 20 (64.5%) achieved rPE-TO. Among the individual components, conversion to open surgery occurred in 4 patients (12.9%), incomplete resection requiring reoperation in 1 (3.2%), POPF in 6 (19.4%), major complications in 2 (6.5%), and 30-day readmission in 2 (6.5%); no 90-day mortality occurred. In the Johns Hopkins cohort ( n = 48), rPE-TO was achieved in 29 patients (60.4%). Despite comparable overall rPE-TO rates, the distribution of individual failure components differed between institutions. In addition, length of hospital stay was shorter among patients achieving rPE-TO in both cohorts. Conclusion Textbook outcome was achieved in approximately two thirds of patients undergoing rPE in both institutional cohorts. The proposed rPE-TO integrates established perioperative quality measures with procedure-specific outcomes and may provide a composite measure for assessing an ideal perioperative pathway after robotic pancreatic enucleation.