For the new study, researchers at Columbia University examined the records of 264,758 women who had hysterectomies-removal of the uterus- for noncancerous conditions at 441 U.S. hospitals from 2007 to 2010. During that time, robotic surgery rose from 0.5% to nearly 10% of all the hysterectomies studied and 22% of those at hospitals where robotic surgery was offered. Open surgeries dropped but were still the most common form of hysterectomy as of 2010.