Robotic Pancreatic Surgery Study Focused on Recovery Published in The BMJ

On July 1, 2026, The BMJ (British Medical Journal) published online the clinical study of robotic versus open pancreatoduodenectomy (the PORTAL trial), confirming that even for an extremely difficult abdominal procedure such as pancreatoduodenectomy, minimally invasive robotic surgery can substantially accelerate postoperative recovery while safeguarding oncological outcomes and surgical safety. The study was led by the Pancreatic Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital together with six leading Chinese centers including the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and is the world's first multicenter robotic pancreatic study to appear in one of the four top medical journals. The data showed that robotic surgery was broadly comparable to conventional open surgery on core oncological indicators such as complete tumor resection and lymph node dissection, with no statistically significant difference in overall complication rates.

Patients undergoing robotic surgery reached functional recovery 3.9 days earlier than those undergoing open surgery, greatly shortening the treatment cycle and reducing physical and mental suffering as well as the burden of hospitalization.