A robotic system for chemotherapy preparations: A literature review

Published: 19 July 2023
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Introduction: the most critical phase of the chemotherapy preparation process is preparation, in which both the maximum level of exposure for the operator and the greatest number of possible errors are recorded. Today there are robotic systems available that can replicate what the operator does manually.

Materials and Methods: a literature review was performed between October and November 2022, consulting the Medline (PubMed interface), Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases. The limits applied to the search for articles were: Italian/English language and publication in the last 10 years. The question we tried to answer was “What is the effectiveness, safety, organizational and economic impact of the robotic system compared to the manual system?”.

Results: the initial literature search identified 137 relevant articles for the review, subsequently excluding 12 because they were duplicates, 29 because they in French/Portuguese/Spanish and published prior to October 2012, 69 articles because they contained different objectives. Therefore, 27 articles were considered for the purposes of this review.

Discussion: the data collected demonstrate how the efficacy, accuracy and precision of the chemotherapy preparations provided through the use of robotic systems are greater than manual preparations. The robotic system ensures greater safety for operators and patients. The comparison of the two preparation methods showed that the contamination of the preparations is lower in the robotic systems. The results of the improvement of the workflow are contrasting. From an economic point of view, it could lead to a reduction in costs.

Conclusions: in order to be able to support decisions relating to the introduction of robotic systems for the preparation of chemotherapy in all contexts, further comparative studies would be very useful and desirable, especially in the Italian context.

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How to Cite

Laus, G. (2023). A robotic system for chemotherapy preparations: A literature review. Scenario® - Il Nursing Nella Sopravvivenza, 40(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/scenario.2023.557