National Prospective Head and Neck Robotic Surgery Audit

A prospective audit of the indications and perioperative management of Head and Neck Robotic Surgery patients across the UK


Background

Head and Neck Robotic Surgery is increasingly used for benign and malignant head and neck conditions, ranging from diagnosis and management of oropharyngeal and unknown primary squamous cell carcinoma through to treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea.

Despite having a number of advantages over traditional open techniques, TORS patients frequently have issues with post-operative pain and haemorrhage. Standardising perioperative management may minimise the risk of these complications and improve patient experience, however, there is limited, heterogeneous clinical evidence to support any particular management regime. 

Access the data entry system here.


Strategy

INTEGRATE are now recruiting to this prospective multicentre audit investigating the perioperative management of patients undergoing Head and Neck Robotic Surgery for benign and malignant indications. This project is being conducted in conjunction with ENT UK, the announcement of the collaboration is found on the ENT UK website here, and a letter of support from one of ENT UK’s robotic leads can be read here.

The overall aim of this project is to understand the variances in the indications and perioperative management of patients undergoing Head and Neck Robotic Surgery, with the view to future standardisation of these processes across the UK. In addition, the audit examines risk factors for early complications and mortality, and the indications for feeding tubes and tracheostomy. 


Dates

Data collection start date: 06/01/2025

Data collection end date: 07/07/2025

Completion of follow-up and submission will occur at any point after 04/08/2025.


Checklist

  1. Register your intended participation with INTEGRATE (form link here!)
  2. Register with your local audit department/ Caldicott guardian. Please try to do this as soon as possible.
    1. The study protocol and this standardised letter to your audit department will help streamline this process.
  3. Identify your patients
    1. Prospectively identify patients undergoing Head and Neck Robotic Surgery from 06/01/2025-07/07/2025.
    2. This may require contacting your local MDT co-ordinator or accessing the operating theatre list through alternative systems.
  4. Collect your data
    1. Login details for the study Alea data entry tool will be provided by the INTEGRATE head and neck committee and the hosting site at the University of Southampton upon registration.
    2. A summary of the required datapoints are provided in an Excel Sheet available here. Please note we will not accept data submission via emailed Excel data sheets.
    3. Data may be entered directly into the study Alea data tool which can be accessed through this link. Instructions on first login is found here and data entry are available here.

Recognition

Consultant site leads, trainee site leads, and local collaborators will be acknowledged for their involvement in this national collaborative audit in any subsequent outputs, including presentations and publications. A maximum of 4 collaborative authors per site are permitted.


Contact us!

torsaudit@entintegrate.co.uk


Key links