Objective:To compare the short-term clinical effect of robotic and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision.Methods:The clinical data of 112 patients who underwent robotic or laparoscopic total mesorectal excision between Aug.2020 and Dec.2022 were retrospectively analyzed.Propensity score matching method was used to perform 1∶1 matching between the two groups.Thirty patients in each group were successfully matched,then the surgical indicators,postoperative recovery and postoperative complications within 30 d were compared between the two groups.Results:There were no statistically significant differences in baseline data after matching between the two groups(P>0.05).One case in robotic group converted to laparoscopic resection,no conversion occurred in the laparo-scopic group.There were no statistical differences between the two groups in left colic artery preservation,close of pelvic peritoneum,positive circumferential resection margin,distal resection margin and the number of harvested lymph node(P>0.05).The rate of prophylactic ileostomy was lower,blood loss during operation was less,reinforcement suture of anastomotic stoma was more,the level of C-reactive protein on the first postoperative day was lower,while the total operation time was longer in the robotic group than those in the laparoscopic group(P<0.05).No significant differences were found in the time to first flatus,removing urinary catheter,removing anal tube,first fluid diet,postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complication within 30 d between the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusions:The robotic total mesorectal excision has the similar short-term clinical effect to the laparoscopic operation,although the robotic operation requires longer operation time,it has the advantage of light tissue injury,little blood loss and low rate of prophylactic ileostomy.