A robotically assisted surgical system, the da Vinci surgical system (DVSS), is a sophisticated surgical platform equipped with immersive 3D visualization and dexterous articulating endoscopic instruments. Surgeons can intuitively control the surgical system to perform delicate surgical tasks. Robotic surgery has gained popularity globally ever since its birth and was approved to market by the China Food and Drug Administration in 2006. This study aims to map the current use of DVSSs in mainland China and the trends from 2009 to 2019.

A full-sample survey of all hospitals equipped with DVSSs was conducted in mainland China, collecting data on hospitals and surgical departments using DVSSs, operation volume, and time of installation. Disease classification was standardized to obtain DVSS use in each department. EXCEL software was used for logging and cleaning the data. The analysis focused on descriptive analysis to map trends of DVSS use in China and present geographical and department distribution.

The DVSSs installed have grown from seven in 2009 to 135 in 2019. By the end of 2019, twenty-eight provinces in China have been equipped with the DVSSs, among which eighty-seven in the eastern regions, twenty-seven in the central regions, and twenty-one in the western regions. The annual volume of operations grew from 339 in 2009 to 38,991 in 2019, at an annual rate of 60.7 percent. The average workload conducted by a single robot is much higher than that of their counterparts in other countries. The largest share of the volume is in department of urology (48%), followed by general surgery (25%) and thoracic surgery (13%).

The use of DVSSs in China has been growing rapidly and extensively, with certain differences between geographical regions and surgical departments. We need to further explore the factors affecting its use and operation efficiency and to evaluate the effectiveness as well as cost-effectiveness in real-world clinical practice to inform public policies on application of DVSS, for example, license and insurance.