South Africa has successfully carried out its first robotic-assisted living donor kidney removal surgery.
The milestone procedure took place at Tygerberg Hospital, a public health facility in Cape Town, where a 45-year-old mother donated a kidney to her 24-year-old daughter, according to a statement released by Stellenbosch University (SU) on Thursday.
The surgery, known as a donor nephrectomy, was performed by urologist Danelo Du Plessis, a joint staff member with Tygerberg Hospital and SU, using the da Vinci Xi robotic platform.
The platform allowed surgeons to operate with exceptional precision through four robotic arms, controlled remotely from a 3D console.
“The surgery exceeded our expectations, completed in under 90 minutes,” Du Plessis, also a senior lecturer and medical specialist in the university’s Division of Urology, said.
According to the statement, robotic-assisted surgery offers a less invasive option for living donors, reducing post-operative pain and speeding recovery. The donor was discharged the following day, while the transplanted kidney immediately began producing urine, signaling proper function.
Andre van der Merwe, head of urology at Tygerberg Hospital and SU, hailed this achievement as “another leap forward in surgical innovation.”
“I anticipate we’ll see more of these procedures, with many more patients benefiting from this technological advancement,” he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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