Since 2008, harvesting healthy kidneys donated by living donors has been performed using a minimally invasive method, i.e., laparoscopic rather than open surgery, informed Dr. László Piros, Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology (STÉG). He added that a version of this is robot-assisted kidney removal, which has been performed on the international level since 2001, and about four percent of donor kidneys worldwide are harvested in this way. Compared to laparoscopy, robot-assisted surgery provides articulated movement, eliminating physiological tremors, thus tracking hand movements more accurately and ensuring more precise preparation. Also, the surgical system allows for real three-dimensionalvisualization with tenfold magnification, explained Dr. László Piros. For this type of surgery, this mainly means locating and preserving the kidney vessels as accurately as possible, the assistant professor added. Due to the diversity of kidney anatomy, these surgeries are preceded by careful planning, which, combined with a precise surgical technique, makes it possible to preserve the often prematurely decomposing blood vessels almost in their entire length, which can be a great help in ensuring an ideal blood supply to the graft during transplantation. The donor’s recovery is shorter thanks to the minimally invasive procedure, and last but not least, the robot allows the surgeon to work in a more comfortable posture, noted Dr. László Piros.
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Following the kidney removal on February 21, the organ was implanted into the donor’s 47-year-old partner using a traditional surgical procedure. The implantation was performed by Assistant Professor Dr. János Balázs Kovács, who heads the kidney transplantation program and performed the first laparoscopic donor surgery at STÉG in 2008. Dr. László Piros announced that the next similar intervention was scheduled for March. In the context of the recent 1000th surgery performed with the da Vinci Xi Surgical System at Semmelweis University, Dr. Attila Szijártó, Director of STÉG, revealed their long-term goal of implanting kidneys using robot-assisted technology. This procedure is already available in the world, as is the form of living-donor liver transplantation where both the removal and the implantation are performed robotically.
Eszter Keresztes
Translation: Judit Szabados-Dőtsch
Photos by Bálint Barta – Semmelweis University
