It is my great honor to be the guest editor for this special edition titled, Current status of Robotic surgery, on behalf of International Journal of Gastrointestinal Intervention (IJGII). I was very happy when I heard that I was selected as editor. On the one hand, I feel responsible. This is because this robotic surgery is the most interesting field in surgery and is an important topic to share with clinicians. I asked several surgeons who are active in the field of robotic surgery for review papers, and it is a very meaningful and grateful memory for me to make this section with them.

The use of the robotic platform for gastrointestinal surgery including liver and pancreas was introduced nearly 20 years ago. The robotic surgical system offers a stable camera platform, elimination of physiologic tremor, augmented surgical dexterity as well as improved ergonomics because of a seated operating position. Due to the theoretical advantages of the robotic assisted system, complex surgery might be an especially interesting indication for a robotic approach since it demands delicate tissue dissection, precise intracorporeal suturing as well as difficult procedure with subsequent need for meticulous hemostasis.

Minimally invasive surgery has been replacing open surgery due to improved survival, fewer complications, and rapid recoveries in recent years. Therefore, it has been of increasing interest in recent years and improvements are also continuing and evolving with promising results. Robots are at the forefront of this surgery, and various applications and technological developments will happen more surprisingly than usual today.

I really appreciate all invited authors and IJGII again. I am very grateful to my colleagues for contribution to the edition. I hope that this special edition will be so beneficial to readers.

Sincerely,

Jae Hoon Lee, MD, PhD

Professor,

Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea