To the Editor The study by Parsons et al1 in JAMA Surgery used incomplete data and an unreliable method. As a result, its conclusions regarding patient safety and robotic surgery are flawed.
The study1 attempted to examine patient safety with regard to minimally invasive radical prostatectomy, during the early years of diffusion. Although the authors acknowledge that their use of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database has inherent limitations, they do not adequately address any of them. In addition, Allaf and Partin, in an invited commentary,2 also outline the significant limitations of this study.