Medtronic’s Hugo™ robotic surgery system for robot-assisted radical prostatectomy: a systematic review of current worldwide experiences

Urology’s pioneering role in surgical innovations, from cystoscopy to laparoscopic surgery, culminated in the twenty-first-century advent of robotic surgery. The dominant da Vinci^® system faced new competition following its 2019 patent expiration. Medtronic’s Hugo^™ system emerged. Its growing global adoption, especially in robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), necessitates a systematic review, evaluating safety, feasibility, and comparison with established systems. A comprehensive search identified eligible studies of the Hugo^™ robotic platform for RARP, presenting their current experiences. Following systematic screening, quality of eligible studies was assessed using ROBINS-I. Results then underwent a narrative synthesis. This systematic review analysed 19 eligible studies, consisting of 9 comparative and 10 single arm studies. Due to the non-randomised nature of the studies, a moderate risk of bias was concluded in most. On account of the high heterogeneity between studies, a narrative synthesis of data was enacted; categorised into themes relating to operative timings, transfer of skills, patient demographics, plus safety and feasibility. Eligible studies demonstrated the promise of the Hugo^™ platform within these themes, in comparison to currently available platforms. Despite a paucity of high-quality randomised controlled trials, available evidence indicates Hugo^™ as a promising, safe alternative for RARP. Positive experiences across diverse centres and surgeons revealed minimal differences in surgical outcomes compared to the established da Vinci^® system, fostering global Hugo^™ adoption. Despite evidence demonstrating Hugo^™ safety and comparability, the review underscores the scarcity of high-quality evidence, attributing it to early stage implementation challenges.