Beyond Laparoscopy for Pancreatic Surgery in the Caribbean: A Report on Robot Assisted Radical Antegrade Modular Pancreatico-Splenectomy (RAMPS)

In the Anglophone Caribbean, laparoscopic surgery for pancreatic malignancies has been reported at low volumes and there has been no report of radical antegrade modular pancreatico-splenectomy (RAMPS), which is increasingly replacing conventional distal pancreatectomy. Performing RAMPS with laparoscopic instruments is technically difficult, but it is feasible. We report our experience performing minimally invasive RAMPS using the FreeHand® robotic camera holder (Freehand 2010 Ltd., Guildford, Surrey, UK) in Trinidad & Tobago.