A hospital in Barcelona, Spain, performed the world’s first fully robotic lung transplant in late February, with a technique that reduces the risks of these surgeries and eliminates patient pain, the institution announced Monday.
The transplant was performed using technology that has been used for years to operate on lung cancer, for example, where it is no longer necessary to open the chest and separate or move the ribs to reach the diseased organ, with just a small incision below the introduce bone, the sternum and from there a camera and the instruments necessary for the operation, said at a press conference today, the head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplantation of the Hospital Universitario Vall d’Hebron, Albert Jauregui.
The challenge, Albert Jauregui said, was to remove a diseased lung through this small cut and insert a healthy lung through the same route and place it in the patient’s body.
In late February, a patient’s lung was transplanted for the first time using this technique, taking advantage of the lungs’ ability to “inflate and deflate,” the surgeon said, to try to explain how it was possible to to remove and insert such an organ through such a small opening.
The transplant patient, who was presented to journalists only by the name of Xavier, was also at the press conference today and claimed to have felt “zero pain” since regaining consciousness after surgery.
Surgeon Albert Jauregui explained that the traditional way of transplanting a lung requires opening the chest horizontally, from one side of the patient’s chest to the other, or between the ribs, in addition to the ribs themselves having to be moved to create enough space for the doctors work, which causes very strong pain in the postoperative period.
The fully robotic transplant performed in Barcelona in February didn’t touch the ribs or other bones, so Xavier felt no pain, said the doctor, who added that since it’s a “minimally invasive” surgery, the overall recovery is also is in progress. faster. , in addition to reducing the risk of post-transplant complications.
In addition to the incision below the sternum, small incisions were made on the side of the ribcage to allow access to the patient’s body by robotic arms (surgical instruments) and 3D (three-dimensional) cameras.
Albert Jauregui emphasized that the application of robotics enables high precision in surgery, which generally reduces risks and increases the chances of success of an intervention.
The doctor explained that for now the technique only allows the transplant of one lung, but expressed confidence that it will soon be possible to apply it in cases where it is necessary to transplant both lungs from the same person.
The Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, in Barcelona, is established as an international reference in the field of lung transplants.
Source: DN
