Table 1.

Recent RCTs and meta‐analyses comparing outcomes of robotic versus laparoscopic or open surgery for rectal cancer

First author	Year	Study design	Number of Patients		CRM involvement			Conversion rate
			RALS	CLS	Result	P value	Difference	Result	P value	Difference
RALS vs CLS
Jayne	2017	RCT	237	234	Odds ratio 0.78	N.S.	No difference	Odds ratio 0.61	N.S.	No Difference
Prete	2017	Meta‐analysis	334	337	Risk ratio 0.82	N.S.	No difference	Risk ratio 0.58	0.04	Lower in RALS
Li	2017	Meta‐analysis	1726	1875	Odds ratio 0.80	N.S.	No difference	Odds ratio 0.35	<0.01	Lower in RALS
Cui	2017	Meta‐analysis	473	476	Risk difference −0.02	N.S.	No difference	Risk difference −0.05	0.02	Lower in RALS
Sun	2016	Meta‐analysis	324	268	Odds ratio 0.50	0.05	Lower in RALS	Odds ratio 0.07	<0.01	Lower in RALS
Xiong	2015	Meta‐analysis	554	675	Odds ratio 0.44	0.04	Lower in RALS	Odds ratio 0.23	<0.01	Lower in RALS
RALS vs OS			RALS	OS
Liao	2016	Meta‐analysis	498	576	Mean difference −0.22	N.S.	No Difference	Not Stated

Operative time			Length of hospital stay			Complication
Result (min)	P‐value	Difference	Result (d)	P‐value	Difference	Result	P value	Difference
Mean difference 37.5	Not stated	Longer in RALS	Mean difference −0.2	N.S.	No difference	Odds ratio 1.04	N.S.	No difference
Mean difference 38.43	<0.01	Longer in RALS	Mean difference −0.61	N.S.	No difference	RALS 27.3%, CLS 26.7%	N.S.	No difference
Weighted mean difference 57.43	<0.01	Longer in RALS	Weighted mean difference −0.69	N.S.	No difference	Odds ratio 1.02	N.S.	No difference
Mean difference 33.73	<0.01	Longer in RALS	Mean difference −1.07	<0.01	Shorter in RALS	Odds ratio 0.58	<0.01	Lower in RALS
Mean difference 28.4	N.S.	No Difference	Mean difference −1.03	<0.01	Shorter in RALS	Mean difference 0.65	0.04	Lower in RALS
Weighted mean difference 17.34	N.S.	No Difference	Weighted mean difference −0.37	N.S.	No difference	Odds ratio 0.95	N.S.	No difference
Mean difference 55.76	<0.01	longer in RALS	Mean difference −2.10	<0.01	Shorter in RALS	Odds ratio 1.00	N.S.	No difference

CLS, conventional laparoscopic surgery; N.S., not significant; RALS, robotic‐assisted laparoscopic surgery; RCT, randomized control trial.