Robotic Harvest of the Rectus Abdominus Muscle for Flap Reconstruction

The rectus abdominis muscle is a workhorse flap for reconstructing challenging defects. This owes to its strategic location in the abdomen with a dual blood supply and a wide arc of transposition. Its harvest, however, requires a long abdominal incision as well as violation of the anterior rectus sheath. This creates the potential for significant surgical site morbidity (bulges, hernias, infections, and seroma). Robotic surgery, with its enhanced precision, tremor elimination, motion scaling, high resolution, 3-D optics and intuitive interface, offers a safe and minimally invasive muscle harvest approach. In this chapter, the operative approach, indication, as well as potential complications, of this technique are described.