Treating cerebrovascular diseases in hybrid operating room equipped with a robotic angiographic fluoroscopy system: level of necessity and 5-year experiences.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A hybrid operating room (OR) equipped with robotic angiographic fluoroscopy system has become prevalent in neurosurgery. The level of necessity of the hybrid OR in treating cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) is rarely discussed. OBJECTIVE: The authors proposed a scoring and classification system to evaluate the cerebrovascular procedures according to the level of treatment necessity for CVD in a hybrid OR and shared our 5-year experiences. METHODS: From December 2009 to January 2016, the registry of cerebrovascular procedures performed in the hybrid OR was retrieved. A scoring system was used to evaluate the importance of the surgical and interventional components of a cerebrovascular procedure performed in the hybrid OR. The score of either component ranged from 1, 1.5, to 2 (1 = no role, 1.5 = supplementary or informative, 2 = important or therapeutic). The total score of a procedure was by multiplying two individual scores. Levels of necessity were classified into level A (important), level B (beneficial), and level C (replaceable). RESULTS: A total of 1027 cerebrovascular procedures were performed during this period diagnostic angiography in 328, carotid artery stenting in 286, aneurysm coiling in 128, intra-operative DSA in 101, aspiration of ICH under image guidance in 79, intra-arterial thrombolysis/thrombectomy in 51, intracranial angioplasty/stenting in 30, hybrid surgery/serial procedures in 19, and rescue surgery during embolization in 5. According to the scoring system, hybrid surgery and serial procedures scored the highest points (2 × 2). The percentages distributed at each level levels A (2.3%), B (17.5%), and C (80.2%). CONCLUSION: This study conveys a concept of what a hybrid OR equipped with robotic angiographic fluoroscopy system is capable of and its potential. For cerebrovascular diseases, hybrid OR exerts its value via hybrid surgery or avoiding patient transportation in serial procedures (level A), via providing real-time high-quality angiography and image guidance (level B), which constituted about 20% of the cases. The subspecialty of the group using the hybrid OR directly reflects on the number of procedures categorized in each level. In a hybrid OR, innovative treatment strategies for difficult-to-treat CVD can be developed.