Table 3. Learning curve of RAMIE.
| Study | No. of patients | Methods | Length of learning curve regarding | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total operative time | Blood loss | Total lymph node retrieval | Anastomotic leak | Overall complications | Hospital stay | Mortality rate | |||
| Mixed McKeown and Ivor Lewis RAMIE | |||||||||
| Sarkaria (13) | 100 | 15-patient cohort groups for defining the plateau. 2 groups of 50 cases | 30–45 | No plateau found | No learning effect | No learning effect found | No plateau found | No learning effect found | Not performed |
| Park (14) | 140 | Observed-expected CUSUM method | 80 | N/A | 28 | 85 | Not performed | 85 | Not performed |
| Ivor Lewis RAMIE | |||||||||
| Hernandez (15) | 52 | 10-patient cohort groups | 20 | Not performed | Not performed | No learning effect found | No learning effect found | Not performed | Not performed |
| McKeown RAMIE | |||||||||
| van der Sluis (16) | 232 | CUSUM method | 70 | 70 | Not performed | Not performed | Not performed | Not performed | Not performed |
| Zhang (17) | 100 | 4 groups of 25 cases | 25 | No learning effect found | 50 | No learning effect found | Not performed | 50 | Not performed |
| Zhang (18) | 72 | CUSUM method | 26 | Not performed | 32 | Not performed | Not performed | Not performed | Not performed |
No learning effect found: a learning curve analysis has been performed. However, there is no statistical significant outcome. No plateau was reached: a learning curve analysis has been performed and a statistical significant outcome has been found. However, the length of the learning curve could not be determined because it was a comparison between two groups, or no plateau between group outcomes has been reached. RAMIE, robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy.