Work

Application of orthopedic robotics in cancer surgery: integrating precision treatment and postoperative exercise rehabilitation

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: This article provides a narrative review of selected applications of orthopedic robotics in cancer surgery, focusing on musculoskeletal tumor resection, relevant technical developments, and implications for postoperative rehabilitation. Orthopedic robotic technology has evolved continuously, with advances in image guidance, instrument positioning, and operative planning. Robotic assistance may improve the reproducibility of complex osteotomies and reconstruction, but technical accuracy should be distinguished from demonstrated oncologic or functional benefit. Current evidence includes experimental models, case reports, and navigation-assisted series, which do not establish that robotic surgery reduces recurrence or accelerates recovery after orthopedic tumor surgery. Beyond intraoperative applications, artificial intelligence and digital rehabilitation platforms offer potential ways to use surgical data, baseline function, and activity measures to inform individualized rehabilitation and follow-up. Rehabilitation robots, including exoskeletons, represent a separate technology whose suitability and benefits require evaluation in specific patient populations. Integration of these approaches into orthopedic oncology remains a direction for clinical research. Ethical and legal challenges, cost-effectiveness, and unequal access also require consideration. This review highlights the potential of orthopedic robotics while identifying the need for comparative studies of resection margins, long-term tumor control, functional recovery, and quality of life.

Source: Frontiers in Oncology

DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1784633