Vall d’Hebron University Hospital
A hospital in Barcelona, Spain, performed the first fully robotic lung transplant in the world, in a technique that reduces the risks of these surgeries and eliminates the patient’s pain, the institution announced today.
The transplant was carried out using technology already used for years to operate, for example, on lung cancer, in which it is no longer necessary to open the chest and separate or move the ribs to reach the diseased organ.
With this technique, just a little cut under the sternum and from there introduce a camera and the instruments necessary for the surgery, explained this Monday the director of the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplantation at the University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Albert Jauregui.
The challenge, said Albert Jauregui, was to remove a diseased lung through this small cut and introduce a healthy lung by the same route and place it on the patient’s body.
At the end of February, a patient’s lung was transplanted using this technique for the first time, taking advantage of the ability of the lungs to “inflate and deflate“, said the surgeon, trying to explain how it was possible to remove and introduce such an organ through such a small opening.
The patient who was transplanted, presented only with the name Xavierwas also at the press conference and claimed to have felt “zero pain” since he regained consciousness after the operation.
Albert Jauregui explained that the traditional way of transplanting a lung requires a horizontal chest openingfrom one side of the patient’s chest to the other, or between the ribs, in addition to having to move the ribs themselves, to open enough space for the doctors to work, which causes very severe pain in the postoperative period.
O fully robotic transplant done in February in Barcelona did not touch the ribs or other bones, so Xavier did not feel pain, said the doctor, who added that, as it is a “minimally invasive” surgery, the general recovery is also being faster, in addition to being have reduced the risk of complications after transplantation.
In addition to the incision under the sternum, small cuts were made on the side of the ribcage to allow entry into the patient’s body. robotic ‘arms’ (surgery instruments) and 3D cameras (three dimensions).
Jauregui underlined that the application of robotics allows for high precision in surgeries, which reduces risks in general and increases the possibility of success of an intervention.
The doctor explained that the technique only allows, for now, the transplantation of one lung, but expressed confidence that it will soon be possible to apply it to cases where it is necessary to transplant both lungs of the same person.
