Robotic Surgery in the Seated Position for Benign and Malignant Lesions of the Head and Neck

May 30, 2025 updated by: Kathryn (Katie) M. Van Abel, Mayo Clinic

A Pilot Study Assessing Robotic Surgery in the Seated or Supine Position for Benign and Malignant Lesions of the Head and Neck Using the da Vinci Robotic Surgical Systems and Modified Transoral Instrumentation

This study is designed to investigate if transoral surgery with the patient in the seated position utilizing the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) will enable better visualization and expedited removal of benign and malignant tumors of the throat.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) being evaluated in this pilot study consists of 3 basic components: a surgeon's console, articulated mechanical arms and sterilizable instruments. The console includes a computer, video monitor and instrument controls, and is located in the operating room adjacent to the operating room table. The console is connected via computer to the mechanical arms holding the endoscope (surgical TV camera) and sterile surgical tools (e.g., forceps, scissors, electrocautery, etc.). These arms are located immediately adjacent to the patient on the operating room table. The surgeon sits at the console and controls the position and movement of the arms and surgical tools. The design of these tools is based upon well-established, commonly used surgical instruments. The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) is a "manual image-guided surgery" system that is computer enhanced rather than "computer guided robotic surgery" in which the surgeon programs the computer to do the surgery and the robot does the surgery (also known as a "milling" device). Use of the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) in the aforementioned configuration in fact facilitates an exact translation of the surgeon's hand and finger movements at the console to precise and tremor-free movements of the arms and instruments.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
32

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Minnesota
      • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
        • Mayo Clinic in Rochester

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient must present with indications for diagnostic or therapeutic surgery for benign or malignant diseases of the head and neck.
  • Written informed consent.

Pre-Operative Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unexplained fever and/or untreated, active infection.
  • Patient pregnancy.
  • Previous head and neck surgery precluding robotic procedures.
  • The presence of medical conditions contraindicating general anesthesia or standard surgical approaches.

Intra-Operative Exclusion Criteria:

  • It is recognized that sometimes patients cannot be excluded from study participation until prepped in the surgical suite such that their anatomy is exposed and available for medical analysis. The following situations represent instances whereby which patients would be excluded from this study based upon anatomical findings not evident in the pre-operative setting:
  • Inability to adequately visualize anatomy or place robotic instrumentation to perform the diagnostic or therapeutic surgical approach in the seated position.
  • In this circumstance, the procedure would be completed by standard robotic transoral surgery or an alternative approach may be chosen.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Other: Trans Oral Robotic Surgery (TORS)
Patient's are having TORS surgery in a seated position
Device: Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) with the daVinci Robotic Surgical System device
Patient's will be having TORS surgery in a seated position
Other Names:
  • Da Vinci Robotic Surgical Systems

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
TORS surgery completion in the seated position
Time Frame: Measures assessed at time of intervention (during surgery)
Recording how many participants' surgery was completed in the seated position
Measures assessed at time of intervention (during surgery)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Length of participants' surgical time
Time Frame: Measures assessed at time of intervention (during surgery)
Surgical start and stop times are recorded in the medical record
Measures assessed at time of intervention (during surgery)
Estimated amount of blood loss during participants' surgery
Time Frame: Measures assessed at time of intervention (during surgery)
Record blood loss during surgery as estimated by the lead surgeon
Measures assessed at time of intervention (during surgery)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Mayo Clinic

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Kathryn Van Abel, MD, Mayo Clinic

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 11, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 7, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 7, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 19, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 1, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 7, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 4, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 30, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 16-001297
  • NCI-2022-10968 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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