Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery has taken a significant place in modern urological therapeutic arsenal. This evolution has been made possible by rapid technological developments and the easy continuum from traditional laparoscopy to the robotic approach. As often in surgery, these technological advances have been adopted without waiting for the result of prospective randomized studies, but they have significantly transformed patient care to become a new standard.

The benefits of the robotic approach are found in various urological surgeries. Although the robotic approach might not be superior to an open or laparoscopic approach (particularly in terms of cost), its benefits are found in the reduction of postoperative hospital stays, the reduction of pain, and a faster return to an active life, which is constantly observed with minimally invasive surgery.

The aim of this thesis is to present some of our work highlighting these benefits for the management of urological patients. Whether for reconstructive surgery (ureteral anastomosis, pyeloplasty), functional surgery (simple prostatectomy, living donor nephrectomy), or oncological surgery (radical prostatectomy, partial nephrectomy), the articles compiled here highlight the feasibility and benefits of the robotic approach in different surgical indications, sometimes pushing the benefit of the minimally invasive approach to the point of transforming surgeries historically performed with a long hospital stay into outpatient surgeries. The perspectives of new developments in urological robotic surgery, such as same day discharge, single port or natural ports surgery will also be outlined, as well as cost-effectiveness of large adoption of the robotic approach to health care systems and challenges to produce high level evidence.