Soft robotic devices have desirable traits for applications in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) but many interdisciplinary challenges remain unsolved. To understand current technologies, we carried out a keyword search using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, applied inclusion and exclusion criteria, and compared several characteristics of the soft robotic devices for MIS in the resulting articles. There was low diversity in the device designs and a wide-ranging level of detail regarding their capabilities. We propose a standardised comparison methodology to characterise soft robotics for various MIS applications, which will aid designers producing the next generation of devices.