Share

Italy hospital conducts fully robotic liver procedure

A medical transplant centre on the Italian island of Sicily said it had carried out the world's first partial liver transplant using only a robot to remove the organ of the donor.

According to a statement from the ISMETT transplant centre in Palermo, only the arms of a robot entered the abdomen of the 44-year-old donor looking to save his 46-year-old brother suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.

Thanks to the robot, only five keyhole incisions and one nine-centimetre incision were required for the operation, the centre said.

First of its kind in the world

"This is the first case in the world performed entirely and exclusively with the robotic technique," the centre said.

The procedure, known as haepatectomy, was performed in March but the news was held until the recipient was given a clean bill of health and discharged from hospital, the centre said.

"In the past, some living donor liver transplants had been performed in the US using the robot," but were aided by a surgeon who inserted his hand through an incision to perform the surgery with the robot, the centre said.

Technology important in surgery

The procedure lasted 10 hours and the two brothers recovered well, with the donor leaving hospital after nine days and the recipient leaving a few weeks later.

The surgical first was carried out using the Da Vinci SHDI robotic surgical system, a multi-tentacled device conceived at the Robotic Surgery Centre in Pisa.

"The use of new technologies in transplant surgery is extremely important since reducing trauma for patients may encourage living organ donations and increase the number of transplants," the centre said.

(Sapa, June 2012) 

Read more:

Transplantation

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE