Table 6.

Preclinical and clinical studies relating to the use of robotics in trans-oral robotic cleft surgery.

Reference	Year	Study design	Operations performed	Outcomes reported
Preclinical studies
Khan et al. (77)	2016	Airway manikin and human cadaver	The Hynes pharyngoplasty (N = 1)	With each variation, a subjective assessment (rated as poor, fair, good or excellent) was made for vision and access to either the posterior pharynx or palate, and it was validated by two of the authors for each set-up
Podolsky et al. (78)	2017	Cleft palate simulator test bed	The von Langenbeck cleft palate repair procedure (N = 1)	Excellent close up visualization of the anatomy, the ability to articulate the wrist intra-orally (not possible with standard instruments), tremor reduction, better ambidexterity and more precise dissection and tissue manipulation, compared to conventional open techniques
Clinical studies
Nadjmi (79)	2015	Controlled cohort study	The robot was used to dissection and repair the palatine muscles in 10 patients with a cleft of the palate (N = 10, 30 controls)	Increased dexterity and operative view using the robot
				Overall operative time was longer using the robot compared to the control group in which the traditional method was used

The number of procedures carried out in each study is documented and represented as N number.