Dear Colleagues,

The advent of laparoscopic surgery in the late 1980s completely revolutionized the practice of abdominal and pelvic surgery. We are here to testify the progress from “great cut great surgeon” to “keyhole surgery” to the benefit of our patients, whose clinical courses have been radically changed from the old days of postoperative pain and long postoperative recovery to a new era of no postoperative pain, minimal scarring, and a quick return to normal life. At the same time, we have seen surgical techniques and technology leaping ahead to a new generation of surgical robots. At the core of this progress, there is always the patient and his or her relationship with the surgeon, their expectations, and their choices.

Minimally invasive surgery has received the interest of surgeons and patients, and nowadays more and more advanced operations can be performed through laparoscopic or robotic surgery. From the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed by Eric Muhe in 1985 to complex liver resections and duodenopancreatectomies nowadays in the armamentarium of many surgeons, the step forward has been huge.

Minimally invasive surgery has created new challenges for surgeons and new opportunities for everyone. 

Surgical education has changed as well, and a new generation of surgeons will take the scene in the next few years, whose technological skills will merge with their manual dexterity and whose hand–eye coordination will be mediated by a 3D screen.

This upcoming Special Issue of the JCM will cover as much as possible the issues related to the practice of laparoscopic as well as robotic surgery of the gastrointestinal tract, from the esophagus to the rectum, but also of the genitourinary tract and the retroperitoneum.

Meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and original research will be considered for publication.

Dr. Giovanni Domenico Tebala
Guest Editor

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• laparoscopic surgery
• robotic surgery
• minimally invasive surgery
• surgical technology
• esophagus
• stomach
• small bowel
• colon/rectum
• liver
• biliary tract
• pancreas
• spleen
• kidney
• bladder
• pelvis
• uterus
• adnexa