Surgeons in Portugal have successfully conducted the first robotic liver transplant in Europe.
The milestone surgery took place last month at the at Curry Cabral Hospital in Lisbon on a patient diagnosed with cirrhosis and who is believed to be recuperating at home and reportedly ‘recovering well’.
The nine-hour operation utilised the fourth-generation da Vinci XI system, led by Hugo Pinto Marques, director of General Surgery and the Hepato-Bilio-Pancreatic Unit.
The procedure took place within Portugal’s inaugural Robotic Surgery Centre.
The patient, a 51-year-old Portuguese citizen, underwent the innovative surgery, receiving a liver from a deceased donor. Remarkably, just 11 days after the operation, the patient was discharged from the hospital, signalling a swift recovery.
At a press conference at Curry Cabral Hospital, Hugo Pinto Marques expressed satisfaction with the outcome, noting the absence of complications.
He highlighted the advantages of robotic surgery, emphasising its precision and minimally invasive nature, facilitating quicker patient recovery.
The journey involved meticulous planning and extensive training of medical teams, culminating in a successful transition to robotic liver surgery.
Luís Campos Pinheiro, director of Surgery at Curry Cabral Hospital, hailed the milestone’s significance, emphasising its profound impact on patient care.
‘This is not just an isolated step and a demonstration of technique, but the start of a robotic transplant programme that can greatly benefit patients,’ he said.
Rosa Valente de Matos, president of ULS São José, echoed this sentiment, emphasising the institution’s commitment to innovation and excellence in healthcare delivery.
She said the robotics centre has performed 1,500 surgical procedures in nine different areas, and in 2023, it performed 533 transplants in the various areas.
Dozens of professionals are now receiving training at the centre.
‘We want to continue paving the way and innovating in the area of robotics and others (because) this is a way of attracting and motivating professionals to the SNS national health service and beyond. It is essentially about providing better quality care and great innovation to our population.’
Experts note that this latest achievement underscores Portugal’s emergence as a leader in robotic surgery within the healthcare sector.
The first liver transplant performed by a robot with a partial liver took place in Asia in 2021, and since then, there have been 10 transplants of this kind in South Korea, India and Saudi Arabia.
The first whole liver transplant was performed in Saint Louis Hospital in the US in May 2021.
