World’s first robot-assisted pancreas transplant performed

LONDON - Doctors have carried out the world’s first robotically-assisted pancreatic transplant on a mother-of-two in Italy.

The team from Pisa Hospital performed the operation on a 43-year-old woman who had been suffering from type one diabetes since 19 years and previously had a kidney transplant.

She suffered no complications during the three-hour procedure.

The Italian team said it opened up new possible treatments for diabetes patients because it was far less invasive than traditional surgery, reports the Daily Mail.

Lead surgeon Ugo Boggi said the team performed the operation Sep 27 and the patient’s body had accepted the new organ.

Boggi said the procedure “ends a diatribe that lasted for decades on the advisability of transplanting pancreases because of the hugely invasive nature of traditional techniques and the massive incidents of post-operation complications”.

Using the Da Vinci SHDI robot, he said, his team was able to remove the woman’s pancreas and insert a new one “by making just three tiny holes and an incision that was just seven centimetres long”.

Boggi, chief of Pisa Cisanello hospital’s surgery transplant team, said their success opened up the possibility of further pancreas transplants for diabetes patients.